[PSA] Biohacking FAQs #3, #4, #5
Dec. 26th, 2008 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maradydd3. Gel electrophoresis uses ethidium bromide, which is a dangerous chemical. How are you disposing of it safely?
I'm not using ethidium bromide. There are a number of other gel stains which are much safer and easier to work with, such as SYBR-Green and SYBR-Safe. I use GR Safe, which is similar to SYBR stains but even better, because it can be stored at room temperature.
Per standard biosafety practices, I sterilize everything before I dispose of it.
4. Why is there toilet paper sitting on your lab table?
It's absorbent and good for wiping up spills, and it wastes less paper than using full paper towels to wipe up the occasional spill of less than 2mL of liquid. (The paper towels weren't in the frame. Nor was the sharps bin, or the fire extinguisher, or any other safety equipment. It's all within reach, though.)
5. Why are there Ziploc bags sitting on your lab table?
The bacteria I work with -- Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus -- are what's called "facultative anaerobes": they prefer environments where there isn't much oxygen. (They'll grow when there's O2 around, but they won't grow as quickly.) So, when I plate them on a petri dish, I put the finished plate in a Ziploc bag. Then I put some vinegar and baking soda into an empty Coke bottle and capture the generated CO2 gas in a balloon, squirt the gas into the Ziploc bag, and close it up.
I asked a former boss of mine (a bioinformaticist whose PhD is in population genetics) whether he had any ideas for easy ways to provide an oxygen-free environment for my plates, and he said they used the same Ziploc bag trick when he was in grad school. It's ghetto, but hey, it works.
I'm not using ethidium bromide. There are a number of other gel stains which are much safer and easier to work with, such as SYBR-Green and SYBR-Safe. I use GR Safe, which is similar to SYBR stains but even better, because it can be stored at room temperature.
Per standard biosafety practices, I sterilize everything before I dispose of it.
4. Why is there toilet paper sitting on your lab table?
It's absorbent and good for wiping up spills, and it wastes less paper than using full paper towels to wipe up the occasional spill of less than 2mL of liquid. (The paper towels weren't in the frame. Nor was the sharps bin, or the fire extinguisher, or any other safety equipment. It's all within reach, though.)
5. Why are there Ziploc bags sitting on your lab table?
The bacteria I work with -- Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus -- are what's called "facultative anaerobes": they prefer environments where there isn't much oxygen. (They'll grow when there's O2 around, but they won't grow as quickly.) So, when I plate them on a petri dish, I put the finished plate in a Ziploc bag. Then I put some vinegar and baking soda into an empty Coke bottle and capture the generated CO2 gas in a balloon, squirt the gas into the Ziploc bag, and close it up.
I asked a former boss of mine (a bioinformaticist whose PhD is in population genetics) whether he had any ideas for easy ways to provide an oxygen-free environment for my plates, and he said they used the same Ziploc bag trick when he was in grad school. It's ghetto, but hey, it works.
do try this at home!
Date: 2008-12-28 01:32 am (UTC)I love this stuff. I have done some moderately serious science in my time and I reckon that 90% of useful experiments need at least one household item. No, this is not a joke. Household items are very cheap 'cos they are made in volume, very precise and/or accurate for the same reason and they have been tested, tested, tested. I do, however, include things like BluRay disc players as household items! I would have given - in fact I did give - a lot for a deep violet diode laser 10 years ago.
My ancestors, who were blacksmiths, had a deep understanding of the physical world that they used to manipulate matter. The gentry might have thought it was just a peasant pounding hot iron until something useful happens. Crap - those ancestors were engineering materials, optimizing processes and so on. I am afraid that people young enough to be my grandchildren will lose that ability to understand reality - to manipulate the real world - in favour of low-information-content digital simulations.
Rant over.
Please keep blogging
John Hennessy
Re: do try this at home!
Date: 2008-12-28 04:13 am (UTC)Re: do try this at home!
Date: 2008-12-29 11:17 am (UTC)Yeah, I'm really excited about the impending availability of cheap violet laser diodes as well. $99 for a Blu-ray DVD drive, OEM, means we should be seeing them on the market Real Soon Now. I'll need to pick up a set of appropriate safety goggles.
And yes, nothing beats going to the bench and doing the [hardware|wet] work oneself. Plus it's fun!
Re: do try this at home!
Date: 2008-12-29 11:11 pm (UTC)john hennessy