Microcentrifuge

The microcentrifuge materialized in Hamburg in 1962 because five separate technological streams converged at precisely the moment molecular biologists needed to work at microliter scale. Theodor Svedberg's ultracentrifuge, developed in 1924, proved that spinning biological samples at extreme speeds could separate molecules by weight. By 1958, Meselson and Stahl used density gradient centrifugation to prove DNA replicates semi-conservatively. But ultracentrifuges were room-sized machines—industrial equipment for industrial-scale samples.

The postwar plastics revolution delivered polyethylene, polypropylene, and Teflon—materials that could withstand thousands of g-forces while remaining cheap enough to throw away. Heinrich Schnitger's micropipette, patented in 1961, enabled precise microliter measurements. The same technologies driving consumer appliances made compact, high-speed motors available. And the 1960s molecular biology revolution created desperate demand: the structure of DNA was known, the genetic code was being cracked, but biological samples were precious—often just microliters.

In 1962, Netheler & Hinz (later Eppendorf) released the Model 3200, the first laboratory microcentrifuge. It anchored the "Microliter System"—an integrated ecosystem of pipettes, tubes, mixers, and centrifuges for samples under 2 mL. The timing was immaculate: within a decade, restriction enzymes were discovered, recombinant DNA technology emerged, and molecular cloning became routine. Every DNA extraction protocol, every plasmid prep required benchtop centrifugation. By 1976, Hettich introduced the first microprocessor-controlled microcentrifuge. Eppendorf's 1989 Model 5415C became legendary—small, quiet, ubiquitous.