The year 2021 marks an important milestone for everyone working in the laboratory. 60 years ago, Eppendorf launched the world's first industrially manufactured piston-stroke pipette, changing the handling of liquids in the laboratory forever. Introduced in 1961, Eppendorf's "Marburg Pipette" featured the same basic elements still found in laboratories today: a spring-loaded piston that stops precisely at a set volume, and a removable plastic pipette tip.

An ingenious mind tackles a problem
Until the 1950s, scientists pipetted by mouth; a technique in which the user aspirated liquids into thin glass tubes by mouth. Not only were these mouth pipettes routinely cleaned with dangerous chemicals such as sulfuric acid, but anecdotal reports linked mouth pipetting to the ingestion of dangerous substances-including a typhoid culture and even plutonium. Frustrated by the inadequacies of oral pipetting, German physician Heinrich Schnitger constructed a "device for the rapid and accurate pipetting of small quantities of liquid" and filed a patent application in 1958.

Eppendorf recognizes the potential
Eppendorf was the first to recognize the significance of Schnitger's invention and developed it further. This work culminated in the "Marburg Pipette" - the world's first commercial piston-stroke pipette, which Eppendorf launched in 1961. Together with the first Eppendorf Tube® for handling microliter volumes ("Eppi®"), a microliter centrifuge and a thermomixer, the "Marburg Pipette" formed Eppendorf's microliter system; a revolutionary set of instruments in many scientific disciplines that today defines the standard in research laboratories around the world.

A promising future
An incredible 60 years have passed since Eppendorf launched the first commercial piston-stroke pipette; a tool that fundamentally revolutionized science. This key moment means that Eppendorf's DNA is in every piston-stroke pipette manufactured since. But the story does not end here. Eppendorf's commitment to providing the best liquid handling solutions continues to result in innovative designs that make laboratory work ever more efficient, safe and generally better. Today, Eppendorf customers can choose from a wide range of instruments, consumables and services to meet their liquid handling needs and further accelerate their research.