Most lab spaces have gas tanks, which are thick metal cylinders that hold compressed gas at high pressures so that the gas take up less space to store.

Gas tanks commonly hold carbon dioxide (CO2), which is used to provide extra carbon dioxide in the air inside of cell incubators. (This is because cells inside the body are “used to” 100x higher concentrations of CO2 than is found in normal air.)

Other gasses commonly stored in gas tanks include oxygen and liquid nitrogen.