Canadian Medical Guide > Chemicals and Drugs > Chemical Actions and Uses > Specialty Uses of Chemicals > Laboratory Chemicals Terms and Definitions

Laboratory Chemicals

Medical Definition:	Chemicals necessary to perform experimental and/or investigative procedures and for the preparation of drugs and other chemicals.
Guide Notes:	GEN OR unspecified; prefer specifics; DF: LABORATORY CHEM

Laboratory Chemicals Categories.

	Buffers - A chemical system that functions to control the levels of specific ions in solution. When the level of hydrogen ion in solution is controlled the system is called a pH buffer.
	Culture Media - Any liquid or solid preparation made specifically for the growth, storage, or transport of microorganisms or other types of cells. The variety of media that exist allow for the culturing of specific microorganisms and cell types, such as differential media, selective media, test media, and defined media. Solid media consist of liquid media that have been solidified with an agent such as AGAR or GELATIN.
	Dyes - Chemical substances that are used to stain and color other materials. The coloring may or may not be permanent. Dyes can also be used as therapeutic agents and test reagents in medicine and scientific research.
	Indicators and Reagents - Substances used for the detection, identification, analysis, etc. of chemical, biological, or pathologic processes or conditions. Indicators are substances that change in physical appearance, e.g., color, at or approaching the endpoint of a chemical titration, e.g., on the passage between acidity and alkalinity. Reagents are substances used for the detection or determination of another substance by chemical or microscopical means, especially analysis. Types of reagents are precipitants, solvents, oxidizers, reducers, fluxes, and colorimetric reagents. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed, p301, p499)
	Ion Exchange Resins - High molecular weight, insoluble polymers which contain functional groups that are capable of undergoing exchange reactions (ION EXCHANGE) with either cations or anions.
	Ligands - A molecule that binds to another molecule, used especially to refer to a small molecule that binds specifically to a larger molecule, e.g., an antigen binding to an antibody, a hormone or neurotransmitter binding to a receptor, or a substrate or allosteric effector binding to an enzyme. Ligands are also molecules that donate or accept a pair of electrons to form a coordinate covalent bond with the central metal atom of a coordination complex. (From Dorland, 27th ed)
	Molecular Probes - A group of atoms or molecules attached to other molecules or cellular structures and used in studying the properties of these molecules and structures. Radioactive DNA or RNA sequences are used in molecular genetics to detect the presence of a complementary sequence by molecular hybridization.

Laboratory Chemicals Medical Definitions and Terms

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