Micropipette

By 1957, molecular biologists faced a maddening bottleneck. Theodor Bücher's lab at the University of Marburg was developing optical enzyme assays demanding unprecedented precision: researchers needed to transfer exact microliter volumes dozens of times per experiment. They relied on Carlsberg pipettes—fragile glass capillary tubes hand-pulled over Bunsen burners. Scientists literally sucked samples into these tubes with their mouths, risking contamination and injury.

The adjacent possible converged around Heinrich Schnitger, a 32-year-old physician who joined Bücher's group. Three critical technologies existed: glass capillary manufacturing refined since the 1660s, precision tuberculin syringes developed for TB testing, and spring manufacturing from mid-century medical instrument production. Schnitger, having survived tuberculosis as a WWII soldier, knew tuberculin syringes intimately. Within weeks, he adapted one: adding a spring to the piston, an upward stop to control volume, and replacing the needle with a polyethylene tip. An air gap prevented samples from touching metal; disposable plastic tips prevented cross-contamination.

Hamburg-based Eppendorf licensed Schnitger's May 1957 patent and manufactured the "Marburg pipette." Tragically, Schnitger drowned in 1964. The second convergence happened in Madison: Warren Gilson and Henry Lardy in 1972 patented the first variable-volume micropipette. Kenneth Rainin, distributing Gilson's pipettes from 1971, developed ergonomic improvements. Mettler Toledo acquired Rainin for $292 million in 2001. The micropipette enabled standardized protocols making experiments reproducible across continents—PCR, DNA sequencing, ELISA assays all depend on moving 1-1000 microliters with 99%+ accuracy.