Sample preparation is a fundamental laboratory technique encompassing all procedures required to convert a raw specimen into a form suitable for analytical measurement or experimental manipulation, while preserving analyte integrity and representativeness. It typically includes sampling, homogenization, separation, purification, concentration, and, when necessary, chemical derivatization. Methods vary by matrix and analytical modality (e.g., filtration, centrifugation, extraction, digestion, or fixation for microscopy), and are optimized to minimize contamination, losses, matrix effects, and chemical transformations. Rigorous sample preparation is critical for achieving accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and reproducibility in techniques such as chromatography, mass spectrometry, spectroscopy, and molecular biology assays.
A high-pressure method of instantaneously freezing cells has proven to be effective in the first empirical validation of its kind. Through further development, the method holds promise in finding broad applications in regenerative ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 23, 2026
0
6
The blobfish, once considered the ugliest animal in the world, has since had quite the redemption arc. Years after it was first discovered, scientists realized that the deep-sea creature appeared so unnervingly blobby only ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 23, 2026
0
8
Controlling light at the micro- and nanoscale opens up opportunities for a better understanding of the world and the development of technology. As modern electronics approaches the limits of its capabilities, photonics comes ...
Nanophysics
Mar 19, 2026
0
24
Superconducting materials could play a crucial role in the energy-efficient applications of the future. However, several technical challenges still stand in the way of their practical use. Now, researchers at Chalmers University ...
Superconductivity
Mar 17, 2026
2
219
An international team led by researchers from the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Germany, has used advanced electron microscopy technologies to capture key cellular mechanisms of stress resistance with near-atomic ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 16, 2026
0
17
Alzheimer's disease affects millions of people around the world. To study this condition, researchers must peer inside the distinctive environment of the human brain. but for scientists to get the most accurate picture of ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 12, 2026
0
14
In 2021, a technology developed at the University of Michigan, called Seq-Scope, revolutionized the ability to map gene activity within intact tissue at microscopic resolution, enabling researchers to measure all expressed ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 2, 2026
0
89
Future devices will continue to probe the frontier of the very small, and at scales where functionality depends on mere atoms, even the tiniest flaw matters. Researchers at Rice University have shown that hard-to-spot defects ...
Nanophysics
Feb 26, 2026
0
31
The tiny shell protecting the HIV virus resembles a slightly rounded ice cream cone, but there is nothing sweet about it. More than 40 million people worldwide live with AIDS because of this virus, and treatments must continually ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 18, 2026
0
29
Despite being riddled with impurities and defects, solution-processed lead-halide perovskites are surprisingly efficient at converting solar energy into electricity. Their efficiency is approaching that of silicon-based solar ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 16, 2026
4
253
