Celebrating 75 Years of Supporting Scientists

"How important is the past for the future?"

When doing research, the focus always tends to be on the future: What’s the next step? In which direction is the field moving? What new discoveries lie ahead?

In these situations, it’s sometimes good to take a step back and think about how we got here. What can we learn from the past when stepping into the future? A lot of this comes back to trust; the trusted methods and trusted technologies that form the basis of our work today often remain a valuable building block for the new developments of tomorrow.

This same principle applies to the manufacturers that support scientists in their work. This year marks the 75th anniversary of Eppendorf as a company – throughout these years, we have gained the trust of generations of researchers in the laboratory with our products - most notably, of course, the iconic "Eppi^®".

But we didn’t stop there. Our scientists and engineers are on a constant mission to build on trusted methods to help address the challenges that today’s scientists face. It's easy to see this in the field of genomics. Researchers have been using our pipettes to set up their PCRs for decades, but as experiments in the field of genomics increase in scope, manual pipetting quickly becomes very time-consuming.

This is why we developed the epMotion^® automated liquid handling systems – fast, easy-to-use systems that build on years of experience in liquid handling and use this experience to help scientists with the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Who knows what the next 75 years will bring!

Learn more about Pipetting of Challenging Liquids | Automated Liquid Handling and epMotion | About Eppendorf 

"What contribution does fundamental research make to our health?"

"If our society continues to support basic research on how living organisms function, it is likely that my great grandchildren will be spared the agony of losing family members to most types of cancer." - Paul D. Boyer, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1997

Improving health is something that underpins the vast majority of research in life science. And it’s not just about finding better treatments, or entirely new approaches such as stem cell-based treatments; it’s also about detecting disease earlier, shedding light on the complex origins of disease, and understanding how the delicate balance of the microbiome affects health.

In the whirlwind of headlines about breakthroughs in medical research, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the fundamental research that laid the foundation for new treatments or new insights.  Luckily, it is not always overlooked. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to researchers in the US and the UK for the fundamental discovery of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. This understanding gives insights into new treatments for conditions ranging from cancer, to anemia, and heart disease.

We at Eppendorf are passionate about supporting scientists engaged in fundamental research. Aside from providing cell and molecular biology users with their day-to-day lab needs, we also support the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators. Established 25 years ago, it is presented in partnership with the journal Nature^® , and acknowledges outstanding contributions to biomedical research in Europe.

Keep an eye out for the next winner of this prestigious award.

Learn more about Science Counts - But What Counts in Science? | The Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators

"How to ensure the quality of our daily needs?"

As the human population continues to grow, how can we be certain there will be enough food and resources in the future to support our needs?

The UN estimates that by 2100 the human population will increase to ten billion – and while land suitable for growing crops is becoming increasingly scarce, the land area devoted to agriculture would have to double in the next 35 years in order to feed everyone.

This clearly highlights the fact that we are going to have to become more inventive and efficient in the way we produce food and raw materials. Crops will need to become more nutrient-rich and tolerant to the effects of climate change. And we also have to make sure that the food we produce is safe.

Molecular biology techniques can play a key role, both in food research and in food quality testing. The great thing about using molecular biology in food testing is that scientists can get their results very quickly, so testing doesn’t cause any significant delays.

At Eppendorf, we support scientists working in food testing, research, and production around the globe with products such as pipettes and tips, tubes, centrifuges, mixers, photometers, and freezers – as well as automated liquid handling systems for high-throughput testing. Our technology is used worldwide to help governments and agencies ensure that the food they test is safe – because only safe food ensures our survival.

Learn more about Bioprocessing - an ancient techniques | Food & Beverage at Eppendorf | Biofuels

"How can we age more healthily in the future?"

Thanks in part to advances in biological and medical research, humans on average now live longer than ever before. As this change continues, more attention will be focused not just on preventing and curing diseases, but also on ageing itself – and on how we can age healthily.

Our understanding of the way humans age has come a long way. We can now study genetic changes in individual cells to see how they contribute to ageing and associated diseases, leading to more effective treatments when things go wrong.

An example of this increased understanding is the important role that our microbiome plays in ageing. The microbiome consists of all microorganisms – bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses – living in or on the human body. Studies have shown how the microbiome of our intestines changes dramatically during ageing, and that these changes are linked to human health and lifespan.

For a quarter of a century, we’ve been supporting research into ageing and other areas of molecular biology through the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators in partnership with the journal Nature^® . In 2018, Professor Andrea Ablasser was awarded the prize for showing that a mechanism involved in the immune response is also activated in ageing cells.

As with the last 75 years, we will continue innovating to ensure molecular biologists have access to the most ground-breaking, reliable, and consistent products to give them the best chance of success in their research. And we look forward to continuing to reward this success through the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators.

Learn more about Muscle Cells from the Lab | The Importance of Stem Cells 

"What does tomorrow’s research look like?"

Many areas of life will experience far-reaching innovations in the future. But what does this mean for the researchers who are seeking to realize these aims?

Some of these innovations are already applied in labs today. One of these is big data. The amount of data we can store and the speed at which it can be processed has been increasing exponentially for decades, and these abilities are having an enormous impact in many areas of life science research.

Lab automation will also inevitably continue in years to come. In today’s labs, automation is still mostly associated with repetitive, high-throughput tasks, but as machines and software get smarter and the role of AI is expanding, it will also become possible to use automation in research tasks that require adjustments based on initial results.

And what other areas will define the lab, or researcher, of tomorrow? It has been suggested that introducing gamification and game theory elements into research will contribute to the research of the future, but maybe the next big thing will come from somewhere nobody expects.

In the last 75 years, we at Eppendorf have been leading the way in applying the latest technologies to support the scientists of tomorrow. You can see this in one of our core areas – pipetting – where we support automation through our epMotion^® automated liquid handling systems, place user ergonomics at the center with our PhysioCare^® concept, and improve connectivity with our new connected pipette.

But we have not stopped there. We have also teamed up with other companies in the smartLAB collaboration to work on new digital solutions for labs worldwide. Our VisioNize^® and eLAB^TM applications offering helps scientists digitize lab tasks that are often done manually, such as equipment control, inventory management, and lab journal writing – thereby helping labs to become connected, paperless, and ready for the future.

Learn more about Digital Lab Solutions from Eppendorf | Cloud Solutions in Science | Digital sample Management

Disclaimer
Nature^® is a registered trademark of Springer Nature Holdings Ltd., UK. Eppendorf^®, the Eppendorf Brand Design, Eppi^®, epMotion^®, Eppendorf Tubes^®, VisioNize^® and the Eppendorf PhysioCare Concept^® are registered trademarks of Eppendorf AG, Germany. eLABTM is a trademark of Bio-ITech BV.