<PAGE>

  As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 28, 1994
                                                               Registration No.

                     SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                     Washington, D.C.  20549
                           ____________

                             Form S-8
                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                              Under
                    THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                            __________

                    BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC.
          (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

              Delaware                                94-1381833
        (State or Other Jurisdiction               (I.R.S. Employer
         of Incorporation or                         Identification
            Organization)                               Number)


                           1000 Alfred Nobel Drive
                   Hercules, California  94547
             (Address of principal executive offices)
                          ______________

           BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC. 1994 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                         (Full title of the plan)

                                                        Copy to:

          SANFORD S. WADLER                 CHRISTOPHER L. KAUFMAN, ESQ.
       General Counsel and Secretary              Latham & Watkins
        Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.            505 Montgomery Street, Suite 1900
         1000 Alfred Nobel Drive               San Francisco, California  94111
       Hercules, California  94547                  (415) 391-0600
           (510) 724-7000
       (Name, address, including zip code,
    and telephone number including area code,
             of agent for service)
                                     _______________


                             CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>

                                    Proposed      Proposed
Title of                            maximum       maximum
securities          Amount          offering      aggregate      Amount of
to be               to be           price per     offering       registration
registered          registered      share (1)     price (1)      fee
- --------------      -----------     ---------     ---------      ------------
<S>                 <C>             <C>           <C>            <C>
Class A Common
 Stock, $1.00
 par value          450,000         $14.31        $6,439,500     $2,220.52

Class B Common
 Stock, $1.00
 par value          225,000         $14.69        $3,305,250     $1,139.74
                                                                  ---------
                                                   Total
                                                   Registration
                                                   Fees           $3,360.26

</TABLE>
[FN]
(1)Estimated solely for the purposes of calculating the amount of the
registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h) and (c).  The Proposed
Maximum Offering Price Per Share is based upon the average of the high
and low prices for the Company's Common Stock on the American Stock
Exchange on April 25, 1994.
                            _______________



<PAGE>

PART II

          INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.  Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference

   The following documents filed with the Commission by Bio-Rad
   are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement
   as of their respective dates:

   (a)     Bio-Rad's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
           year ended December 31, 1993.

   (b)     Bio-Rad's Proxy Statement dated March 25, 1994, for
           the 1994 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

   (c)     The description of Bio-Rad's Common Stock which is
           contained in its Registration Statement No. 33-7036 on
           Form S-2 filed on August 26, 1986 under the Exchange
           Act, including any amendment or report filed for the
           purpose of updating such description.

   All documents subsequently filed by Bio-Rad pursuant to
   Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act
   prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which
   indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which
   deregisters all securities then remaining unsold shall be
   deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration
   Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of
   such documents.


Item 5.   Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

        The legality of the shares of Common Stock offered hereby
        are being passed upon for the Company by Sanford S.
        Wadler, General Counsel and Secretary of the Company.


Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers

        The Company has the power to indemnify its directors,
        officers and other persons against liability for certain
        acts pursuant to Section 145 of the Delaware General
        Corporation Law and pursuant to the Company's Certificate
        of Incorporation.  Section 8 of the Company's
        Certification of Incorporation provides as follows:

                   "8.  A director of the corporation shall not
               be personally liable to the corporation or any
               stockholder for monetary damages for breach of
               fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability
               (i) for any breach of the director's duty of
               loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders,
               (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or
               which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing
               violation of law, (iii)

                                1.



<PAGE>

               under section 174 of the Delaware General
               Corporation Law, or (iv) for any transaction from
               which the director derived an improper personal
               benefit.  If the Delaware General Corporation Law
               is amended after approval by the stockholders of
               this Article 8 to authorize corporate action
               further eliminating or limiting the personal
               liability of directors, then the liability of a
               director of the corporation shall be eliminated or
               limited to the fullest extent permitted by the
               Delaware General Corporation Law, as so amended.
               Any repeal or modification of any provision of the
               Article 8 by the stockholders of the corporation
               shall not adversely affect any right or protection
               of a director of the corporation existing at the
               time of such repeal or modification."

               In addition, the Company maintains a standard form
of directors' and officers' liability insurance policy.

               Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors,
officers and controlling persons of the Company, the Company has
been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act of 1993, and is, therefore,
unenforceable.

Item 8.  Exhibits

     4.1 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan.

     5.1 Opinion of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel and
         Secretary of the Company

   23.1  Consent of Independent Public Accountants.

   23.2  Consent of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel and
         Secretary of the Company (included in Exhibit 5.1).

    24   Power of Attorney (incorporated in the signature page
         to the Registration Statement--see pages 4 and 5).

Item 9.  Undertakings

         The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:  (1)  To
         file, during any period in which offers or sales are
         being made, a post-effective amendment to this
         Registration Statement and to include any material
         information with respect to the plan of distribution
         not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement
         or any material change to such information in the
         Registration Statement; (2) That, for the purpose of
         determining any liability under the Securities Act of
         1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be
         deemed to be a new registration statement relating to
         the securities offered therein,

                                2.


<PAGE>

         and the offering of such securities at that time shall
         be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof;
         and (3) To remove from registration by means of a
         post-effective amendment any of the securities being
         registered which remain unsold at the termination of
         the offering.

         The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for
         purposes of determining any liability under the
         Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant's
         annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section
         15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and,
         where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
         plan's annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the
         Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated
         by reference in the Registration Statement shall be
         deemed to be a new Registration Statement elating to
         the securities offered therein, and the offering of
         such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
         initial bona fide offering thereof.

         Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
         under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to
         directors, officers and controlling persons of the
         registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or
         otherwise, the registrant has been  advised that in the
         opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such
         indemnification is against public policy as expressed
         in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the
         event that a claim for indemnification against such
         liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant
         of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
         controlling person of the registrant in the successful
         defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted
         by such director, officer or controlling person in
         connection with the securities being registered, the
         registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel
         the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
         submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the
         question whether such indemnification by it is against
         public policy as expressed in the Act and will be
         governed by the final adjudication of such issue.




                                3.




<PAGE>

                            SIGNATURES

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of
1993, as amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable
grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for
filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement
to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the city of Hercules, California on April 28, 1994.
                              BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC.

                    By:  /s/ Sanford S. Wadler
                         Name:   Sanford S. Wadler
                         Title:  General Counsel and Secretary


                         POWER OF ATTORNEY

          KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose
signature appears below, hereby constitutes and appoints David
Schwartz and Thomas L. Braje and each acting alone, his true and
lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of
substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place
and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any or all
amendments or supplements to this Registration Statement and to
file the same with all exhibits thereto and other documents in
connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing necessary
or appropriate to be done with respect to this Registration
Statement or any amendments or supplements hereto in and about the
premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or
could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, or his substitute
or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed by
the following persons in their respective capacities with Bio-Rad
Laboratories, Inc. and on the dates indicated.




                                4.


<PAGE>

Signature                     Title                    Date


                              President                April 28, 1994
/s/ David Schwartz            and Director
David Schwartz


/s/ James J. Bennett          Director                 April 28, 1994
James J. Bennett


/s/ Albert J. Hillman         Director                 April 28, 1994
Albert J. Hillman



/s/ Philip L. Padou           Director                 April 28, 1994
Philip L. Padou


/s/ Alice N. Schwartz         Director                 April 28, 1994
Alice N. Schwartz


/s/ Burton A. Zabin           Director                 April 28, 1994
Burton A. Zabin

                              Vice President,          April 28, 1994
/s/ Thomas L. Braje           Chief Financial Officer
Thomas L. Braje

                              Principal Accounting     April 28, 1994
/s/ James R. Stark            Officer
James R. Stark




                                5.


<PAGE>

                         INDEX TO EXHIBITS



EXHIBIT                                                PAGE

4.1  Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan  9

5.1  Opinion of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel
       and Secretary of the Company . . . . . . . . .   7

23.1  Consent of Independent Public Accountants . . .   8

23.2  Consent of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel
       and Secretary of the Company (included in Exhibit 5.1)

24    Power of Attorney (incorporated in the signature page
        to the Registration Statement (see pp. 4 and 5)




                                6.
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "S-8 FOR 1994 STOCK OPTION PLAN", "secsgml_size_bytes": 14658}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "BIO RAD LABORATORIES INC", "cik": "0000012208", "assigned-sic": "3826", "irs-number": "941381833", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "033-53337", "film-number": "94525059"}, "business-address": {"street1": "1000 ALFRED NOBEL DR", "city": "HERCULES", "state": "CA", "zip": "94547", "phone": "5107247000"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 28, 1994
                                                               Registration No.

                     SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                     Washington, D.C.  20549
                           ____________

                             Form S-8
                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                              Under
                    THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                            __________

                    BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC.
          (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

              Delaware                                94-1381833
        (State or Other Jurisdiction               (I.R.S. Employer
         of Incorporation or                         Identification
            Organization)                               Number)

                           1000 Alfred Nobel Drive
                   Hercules, California  94547
             (Address of principal executive offices)
                          ______________

           BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC. 1994 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                         (Full title of the plan)

                                                        Copy to:

          SANFORD S. WADLER                 CHRISTOPHER L. KAUFMAN, ESQ.
       General Counsel and Secretary              Latham & Watkins
        Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.            505 Montgomery Street, Suite 1900
         1000 Alfred Nobel Drive               San Francisco, California  94111
       Hercules, California  94547                  (415) 391-0600
           (510) 724-7000
       (Name, address, including zip code,
    and telephone number including area code,
             of agent for service)
                                     _______________

                             CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Proposed      Proposed
Title of                            maximum       maximum
securities          Amount          offering      aggregate      Amount of
to be               to be           price per     offering       registration
registered          registered      share (1)     price (1)      fee
- --------------      -----------     ---------     ---------      ------------
Class A Common
 Stock, $1.00
 par value          450,000         $14.31        $6,439,500     $2,220.52

Class B Common
 Stock, $1.00
 par value          225,000         $14.69        $3,305,250     $1,139.74
                                                                  ---------
                                                   Total
                                                   Registration
                                                   Fees           $3,360.26
[FN]
(1)Estimated solely for the purposes of calculating the amount of the
registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h) and (c).  The Proposed
Maximum Offering Price Per Share is based upon the average of the high
and low prices for the Company's Common Stock on the American Stock
Exchange on April 25, 1994.
                            _______________
PART II

          INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.  Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference

   The following documents filed with the Commission by Bio-Rad
   are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement
   as of their respective dates:

   (a)     Bio-Rad's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
           year ended December 31, 1993.

   (b)     Bio-Rad's Proxy Statement dated March 25, 1994, for
           the 1994 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

   (c)     The description of Bio-Rad's Common Stock which is
           contained in its Registration Statement No. 33-7036 on
           Form S-2 filed on August 26, 1986 under the Exchange
           Act, including any amendment or report filed for the
           purpose of updating such description.

   All documents subsequently filed by Bio-Rad pursuant to
   Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act
   prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which
   indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which
   deregisters all securities then remaining unsold shall be
   deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration
   Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of
   such documents.

Item 5.   Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

        The legality of the shares of Common Stock offered hereby
        are being passed upon for the Company by Sanford S.
        Wadler, General Counsel and Secretary of the Company.

Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers

        The Company has the power to indemnify its directors,
        officers and other persons against liability for certain
        acts pursuant to Section 145 of the Delaware General
        Corporation Law and pursuant to the Company's Certificate
        of Incorporation.  Section 8 of the Company's
        Certification of Incorporation provides as follows:

                   "8.  A director of the corporation shall not
               be personally liable to the corporation or any
               stockholder for monetary damages for breach of
               fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability
               (i) for any breach of the director's duty of
               loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders,
               (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or
               which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing
               violation of law, (iii)

                                1.
under section 174 of the Delaware General
               Corporation Law, or (iv) for any transaction from
               which the director derived an improper personal
               benefit.  If the Delaware General Corporation Law
               is amended after approval by the stockholders of
               this Article 8 to authorize corporate action
               further eliminating or limiting the personal
               liability of directors, then the liability of a
               director of the corporation shall be eliminated or
               limited to the fullest extent permitted by the
               Delaware General Corporation Law, as so amended.
               Any repeal or modification of any provision of the
               Article 8 by the stockholders of the corporation
               shall not adversely affect any right or protection
               of a director of the corporation existing at the
               time of such repeal or modification."

               In addition, the Company maintains a standard form
of directors' and officers' liability insurance policy.

               Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors,
officers and controlling persons of the Company, the Company has
been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act of 1993, and is, therefore,
unenforceable.

Item 8.  Exhibits

     4.1 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan.

     5.1 Opinion of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel and
         Secretary of the Company

   23.1  Consent of Independent Public Accountants.

   23.2  Consent of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel and
         Secretary of the Company (included in Exhibit 5.1).

    24   Power of Attorney (incorporated in the signature page
         to the Registration Statement--see pages 4 and 5).

Item 9.  Undertakings

         The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:  (1)  To
         file, during any period in which offers or sales are
         being made, a post-effective amendment to this
         Registration Statement and to include any material
         information with respect to the plan of distribution
         not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement
         or any material change to such information in the
         Registration Statement; (2) That, for the purpose of
         determining any liability under the Securities Act of
         1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be
         deemed to be a new registration statement relating to
         the securities offered therein,

                                2.
and the offering of such securities at that time shall
         be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof;
         and (3) To remove from registration by means of a
         post-effective amendment any of the securities being
         registered which remain unsold at the termination of
         the offering.

         The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for
         purposes of determining any liability under the
         Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant's
         annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section
         15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and,
         where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
         plan's annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the
         Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated
         by reference in the Registration Statement shall be
         deemed to be a new Registration Statement elating to
         the securities offered therein, and the offering of
         such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
         initial bona fide offering thereof.

         Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
         under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to
         directors, officers and controlling persons of the
         registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or
         otherwise, the registrant has been  advised that in the
         opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such
         indemnification is against public policy as expressed
         in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the
         event that a claim for indemnification against such
         liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant
         of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
         controlling person of the registrant in the successful
         defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted
         by such director, officer or controlling person in
         connection with the securities being registered, the
         registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel
         the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
         submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the
         question whether such indemnification by it is against
         public policy as expressed in the Act and will be
         governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                3.
SIGNATURES

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of
1993, as amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable
grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for
filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement
to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the city of Hercules, California on April 28, 1994.
                              BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC.

                    By:  /s/ Sanford S. Wadler
                         Name:   Sanford S. Wadler
                         Title:  General Counsel and Secretary

                         POWER OF ATTORNEY

          KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose
signature appears below, hereby constitutes and appoints David
Schwartz and Thomas L. Braje and each acting alone, his true and
lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of
substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place
and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any or all
amendments or supplements to this Registration Statement and to
file the same with all exhibits thereto and other documents in
connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing necessary
or appropriate to be done with respect to this Registration
Statement or any amendments or supplements hereto in and about the
premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or
could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, or his substitute
or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed by
the following persons in their respective capacities with Bio-Rad
Laboratories, Inc. and on the dates indicated.

                                4.
Signature                     Title                    Date

                              President                April 28, 1994
/s/ David Schwartz            and Director
David Schwartz

/s/ James J. Bennett          Director                 April 28, 1994
James J. Bennett

/s/ Albert J. Hillman         Director                 April 28, 1994
Albert J. Hillman

/s/ Philip L. Padou           Director                 April 28, 1994
Philip L. Padou

/s/ Alice N. Schwartz         Director                 April 28, 1994
Alice N. Schwartz

/s/ Burton A. Zabin           Director                 April 28, 1994
Burton A. Zabin

                              Vice President,          April 28, 1994
/s/ Thomas L. Braje           Chief Financial Officer
Thomas L. Braje

                              Principal Accounting     April 28, 1994
/s/ James R. Stark            Officer
James R. Stark

                                5.
INDEX TO EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT                                                PAGE

4.1  Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan  9

5.1  Opinion of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel
       and Secretary of the Company . . . . . . . . .   7

23.1  Consent of Independent Public Accountants . . .   8

23.2  Consent of Sanford S. Wadler, General Counsel
       and Secretary of the Company (included in Exhibit 5.1)

24    Power of Attorney (incorporated in the signature page
        to the Registration Statement (see pp. 4 and 5)

                                6.