The centrifuge has also come to play an essential role biochemistry. It is used to both separate proteins and determine their properties. A key challenge was to make something spinning above 10 000 revolutions per minute safe.

Edward Pickles took on the challenge: “... (the Model L) has done more than any other single instrument to advance the study of viruses, yet Pickels received almost no attention for these remarkable achievements. Previously, ultracentrifuges had to be run behind three-foot-thick walls of reinforced concrete. The scientists who operated them were considered slightly insane. Centrifuges required constant attention … and explosions were to be expected at fairly regular intervals. The Spinco preparative centrifuge, for contrast, is about the size of a washing machine, and anyone can learn to run it in 10 minutes.” https://www.beckman.com/resources/technologies/analytical-ul...