One of the devices that’s considered a staple in laboratories and clinical settings is the laboratory pipette. Laboratory pipettes are used to transfer or remove small amounts of liquid from one vessel to another. Many people have the misconception that laboratory pipettes are a new invention.
Surprisingly, laboratory pipettes have been used for close to two centuries now. The earliest record of pipette use was in the 18th century. Louis Pasteur, a French biologist, chemist, and microbiologist invented the first ever pipette in the 18th century. He created the pipette to ensure sample contamination is avoided.
Plastic pipettes were developed in the 1940s. A survey of 57 laboratories in 1915 revealed that close to 40% of the infections that occur in the workplace was caused by mouth pipetting. Undoubtedly, significant changes are required. In 1957, Heinrich Schnitger developed the piston-driven pipette.
This radical pipette development introduced by Schnitger was created while he was doing his postdoctoral studies. In 1961, the patent for his piston-driven pipette was given. Another development in the laboratory pipette took place in 1974.
This time, the development was initiated by Warren Gilson and Henry Lardy. However, unlike Heinrich Schnitger’s fixed volume model, the new one is adjustable. The pipette created by Largy and Gilson are deemed the direct ancestor of the modern laboratory pipettes that are being used today.
