You’re at the doctor’s office getting a routine checkup. The nurse draws some blood and tells you you’ll find out your test results in a few days. Why the wait? “We’ve got to send it to the lab,” she tells you.

Almost everyone has been in a situation like the one above, when it takes a few days or even weeks to receive medical test results. From blood to biopsies, many things collected in a doctor’s office or at the hospital must make the trek to the lab. Obviously, you know that labs exist. But what else do you know about them? If you’re like most people, you probably don’t know much about these mysterious places and the laboratory supplies that stock them. Read more on Basics about laboratory supplies…