My primary lab contact is currently on leave so I am using the time to identify materials for experimentation. I am keen to grow and stain my cells on diverse materials (glass, porous and non-porous scaffolds etc). An easy start is to use glass Petri dishes with different coatings to encourage cell adherence. The use of coatings may also enable me to encourage cells to grow in particular patterns.

I’ve done a bit of searching via Researchgate and it seems that common surface coatings to encourage cell attachment to glass include:

• Hyaluronic acid
• Poly-D-Lysine – my current choice
• Fetal Calf Serum
• Bovine serum albumin
• Gelatin
• Fibronectin
• Laminin
• Collagen

I will ask for advice at the next lab meeting.

There were also suggestions to etch the glass surface with concentrated nitric acid and then wash and autoclave. At the UTAS School of Creative Arts and Media, we are fortunate to have access to a glass cutter and laser engraver. So instead of using acid, I will use the laser to score a design into the base of a large 150mm Petri dish.

Glass Petri dish by Lilly M via Wikimedia

Luckily Petri dishes are easy to purchase online. I just need to make sure the dishes are suitable for autoclave sterilisation (e.g.  borosilicate glass rather than soda lime glass).