Diluting Serum Glucose with Saline: A Practical Guide

Sugars and salts are integral to the healthy functioning of our bodies. To gain a better understanding of how our bodies work, scientists will try and recreate the concentrations of sugars and salts in the blood, essential for understanding diseases, such as diabetes where blood sugar is not being broken down correctly. The easiest way to experiment is by diluting serum glucose with a saline -- salt and water -- solution. Serum glucose tends to be used in low concentrations to replicate its levels in our blood.

Things You'll Need

• Test tube
• Test tube bung
• Test tube rack
• 10 ml saline solution
• Serum glucose
• Pipette

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Instructions

• 1

  Measure out 9.9 ml of saline solution into your test tube, using the pipette.

• 2

  Add 0.1 ml of serum glucose to the same test tube.

• 3

  Seal the test tube with a bung and shake the tube for at least 10 seconds.

• 4

  Wait for the liquid to settle. Your serum glucose/saline dilution is 1:100.