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A wet lab, or experimental lab, is a type of
laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...
where it is necessary to handle various types of chemicals and potential "wet" hazards, so the room has to be carefully designed, constructed, and controlled to avoid spillage and
contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination W ...
. A
dry lab A dry lab is a laboratory where the nature of the experiments does not involve significant risk. This is in contrast to a wet lab where it is necessary to handle various types of chemicals and biological hazards. An example of a dry lab is one whe ...
might have large experimental equipment but minimal chemicals, or instruments for analyzing data produced elsewhere.


Overview

A wet lab is a type of
laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...
in which a wide range of experiments are performed, for example, characterizing of
enzymes Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
in
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
,
titration Titration (also known as titrimetry and volumetric analysis) is a common laboratory method of quantitative chemical analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte (a substance to be analyzed). A reagent, termed the ''titrant'' ...
in
chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
,
diffraction Diffraction is defined as the interference or bending of waves around the corners of an obstacle or through an aperture into the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle/aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a s ...
of
light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...
in
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
, etc. - all of which may sometimes involve dealing with
hazardous substances Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...
. Due to the nature of these experiments, the proper appropriate arrangement of safety equipment are of great importance. The researchers (the occupants) are required to know basic laboratory techniques including safety procedures and techniques related to the experiments that they perform.


Laboratory design

At the present, lab design tends to focus on increasing the interactions between researchers through the use of open plans, allowing the space and opportunity for researchers to exchange ideas, share equipment, and share storage space; increasing productivity and efficiency of experiments. This style of design has been proposed to support team-based work, though more compartmentalised or individual spaces are still important for some types of processes which require separate/isolated space such as
electron microscopes An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...
,
tissue cultures Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, such ...
, work/workers that may be disturbed by noise levels, etc. Flexibility of laboratory design should also be promoted, for example, the wall and ceiling should be removable in case of expansion or contraction, the pipes, tubes and
fume hoods A fume hood (sometimes called a fume cupboard or fume closet) is a type of local ventilation device that is designed to limit exposure to hazardous or toxic fumes, vapors or dusts. Description A fume hood is typically a large piece of equipmen ...
should also be removable for future expansion, reallocation and change of use. A well thought-through design will ensure that a lab can be adjusted for any future use. The sustainability of resources is also a concern, so the amount of resources and energy used in the lab should be reduced where possible to save the environment, but still yield the same products. As a laboratory consists of many areas such as wet lab, dry lab and office areas, wet labs should be separated from other spaces using controlling devices or dividers to prevent cross-contamination or spillage. Due to the nature of processes used in wet labs, the environmental conditions may need to be carefully considered and controlled using a
cleanroom A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space, which maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientif ...
system.


See also

*
Wet chemistry Wet chemistry is a form of analytical chemistry that uses classical methods such as observation to analyze materials. It is called wet chemistry since most analyzing is done in the liquid phase. Wet chemistry is also called bench chemistry since ...


References

{{Reflist Laboratory types Science experiments