"Science Take-Out"

Live specimens are used for a wide variety of studies including studying the physiological effects of drugs on a specimen’s heartbeat and temperature on metabolism, the locomotion of microscopic organisms, and studying plant respiration, photosynthesis, plasmolysis, and more. Algal cultures form colonies of cells that are extremely easy to visualize for better understanding of cell walls and plastids, and many live specimens reproduce rapidly for quick turnover between successive tests.