VMC 211: General Veterinary Microbiology (1+1)

INCUBATOR

• Incubator is an insulated chamber inside which a set temperature is maintaned. The temperature is maintained by electrical heaters, a mechanism for air circulation and a thermostat.
• In the microbiology laboratory, incubators are set at 37C for bacterial culture and cell cultures. Inside the incubator there are trays for keeping the culture vessels. A simple incubator can maintain temperatures 5C or more above ambient temperature.
• Low temperature incubators have refrigeration system to maintain temperatures below ambient temperature.
• Carbon-di-oxide (CO₂) incubators maintain both the temperature and CO₂ at the set level (usually 5-10 percent). They are used for incubation of certain cell cultures.

Carbon-di-oxide incubator