This filter prevents sample vapors from rising up into the pipette and contaminating it. The filters are also useful when working with hazardous or radioactive samples because they prevent the researcher from breathing in sample vapors. Companies also frequently provide tips for things like robotic pipette machines, or for use with very small or large volumes. Tip manufacturers will usually provide a list or chart describing which of their tips will fit pipettes made by various manufacturers. It gets very complex.
Some companies provide both tips and pipettes, which makes compatibility search a little easier.
When searching out a tip manufacturer, look for one that makes tips out of virgin polypropylene. A few other features to look for in tips are thin walls, which decrease ejection force, and steeply beveled tips with small openings, which increase the accuracy of the dispensed sample. Tips should be autoclaved, sterile, and DNase and RNase free. Inc. Catalogue Rainin Product Catalogue USP Product Catalogue Continental Laboratory Products Guide Laurel V. George is currently completing her bachelors degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology with a minor in Mathematics at Mills College in Oakland, California. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in Genetic counseling.