A standard cell culture laboratory should not only have a reasonable layout, but also be safe and convenient to operate, and be able to avoid contamination. It should not only meet the work requirements but also ensure that the test results are not disturbed. Therefore, when building a cell culture laboratory, attention should be paid to the design and layout of the cell culture laboratory.

The layout of a cell culture laboratory should carry out six aspects of work: aseptic operation, incubation, preparation, cleaning, disinfection and sterilization treatment, and storage.

Aseptic operation area

(1) Aseptic operation room: It is limited to the area for cell culture and other aseptic operations. It is best to be isolated from the outside world and not allowed to pass through or be disturbed by other factors.

The ideal aseptic operation room should be divided into three parts:

• Changing room - for changing clothes, shoes and wearing hats and masks.

• Buffer room - Located between the changing room and the operation room, its purpose is to ensure a sterile environment in the operation room, and it can also accommodate a constant temperature incubator and some necessary small instruments.

• Aseptic operation room - Specifically designed for aseptic operations and cell culture. Its size should be appropriate, and its top should not be too high (no more than 2.5m) to ensure the effective sterilization effect of ultraviolet rays. The walls are smooth without dead corners for cleaning and disinfection. The workbench should not be placed against the wall. The tabletop should be smooth and molded as the surface, and painted white or gray to facilitate the observation of anatomical tissues and phenol red pH.

(2) Super clean bench/Biosafety cabinet: It is easy to operate, convenient to install, takes up little space and has a very good purification effect. There are mainly two types of clean benches used in general cell culture rooms: a) Side flow type or vertical type; b) External flow type or horizontal laminar flow type.

2. Incubation area

Although the requirements for sterility in this area are not as strict as those in the sterile zone, it still needs to be clean and dust-free. Therefore, it should also be set up in an area with less interference rather than one where people come and go. Incubation can be carried out in incubators or temperature-controlled greenhouses. The latter is more expensive, and most laboratories use incubators for their work.

3. Preparation Area

This area mainly conducts the preparation of culture medium and related liquids for culture, etc.

4. Storage area

It mainly stores various types of refrigerators, drying ovens, liquid nitrogen tanks, sterile culture media, culture bottles, etc. This environment also needs to be clean and dust-free.

5. Cleaning and disinfection sterilization area

The cleaning and disinfection sterilization area should be separated from other areas, mainly for the cleaning, preparation, disinfection of all cell culture vessels and the preparation of three-distilled water, etc.