Lab life is saturated with acronyms, and brand names. You are expected to understand them from day one – whether you are a student, a PhD candidate, or a new hire in industry. When I entered first accredited biomedical research lab in Göttingen, in April 2021, I was terriefied. I did not spoke the jargon – vial, aliquot, re-suspending a primer HEKs, cell splitting, seeding. 
 
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗯 𝗩𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 (𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀) 
Eppis – Colloquial term for Eppendorf tubes (usually 0.5 – 2 mL) 
Plate – Multi-well culture or assay plates (6-, 12-, 24-, 96-, 384-well) 
PBS – Phosphate-buffered saline. The most universal buffer for washing cells, diluting reagents, and maintaining physiological pH 
FBS – Fetal bovine serum 
Falcon – Originally a brand, now used generically for 15 mL and 50 mL conical tubes (usually for centrifuging) 
Amicon – Centrifugal filter units used for protein concentration or buffer exchange; used in virus packaging production 
 
𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 
DMEM / RPMI – Common basal media (Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium; Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium) 
Tryp / Trypsin – Enzyme used to detach adherent cells 
ALI – Air–liquid interface, often used in epithelial or organoid cultures 
MOI – Multiplicity of infection, critical for viral transduction experiments 
IP / WB / IF / IHC – Immunoprecipitation, Western blot, Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry 
KO / KD – Knockout, knockdown 
qPCR / RT-qPCR – Quantitative PCR, often used interchangeably (sometimes incorrectly) 
 
𝗜𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘆𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆-𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺𝘀 
FACS – Fluorescence-activated cell sorting 
MFI – Mean fluorescence intensity 
Isotype – Control antibody matched to the test antibody’s class 
PBMCs – Peripheral blood mononuclear cells 
CAR – Chimeric antigen receptor 
CRS – Cytokine release syndrome 
 
It is rarely taught explicitly, which disadvantages newcomers, international researchers, and first-generation scientists. 
 
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 
Which lab acronym confused you the most when you first started? 
 
Stay tuned for Stay tuned for 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟵𝟬: 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗲–𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 
 
𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 
1. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-56004-4 
2. https://lnkd.in/eHMkb7S8 
3. https://lnkd.in/eZxf35ww 

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