If you have ever stepped foot in a microbiology lab, you know the drill. You put on your gloves, fire up the biosafety cabinet, and reach for the most ubiquitous piece of plastic on the bench: the Falcon tube .
Stay sterile, stay curious.
Whether you call it a centrifuge tube, a conical tube, or simply a "Falcon," this 15mL or 50mL plastic vessel is the workhorse of microbial culture, sample storage, and centrifugation. But is there more to it than just "squirting and spinning"?