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Monday, July 26, 2004


fabulous life of... 

To prove to you all that science is not all cloning headless babies and cool arc-y pictures, here's what I did today:

1. fill pipet tip boxes and epe tube containers, autoclave

2. organize the tube rack cabinet, and pull out all obsolete and useless racks that no longer fit any tubes we use. this will make the cabinet less messy and easier to keep neat. this has been bothering me for MONTHS!

3. replace pH meter storage buffer. old stuff was getting grody.

4. put new toothpicks into circulation. for you non-yeast genetics people, we use sterilized toothpicks to manipulate cells from plate to plate, start liquid cultures, streak out strains from the freezer, etc. new toothpicks are usually only useful for the latter two, since they tend to tear up media plates. we reuse toothpicks, and after a while, they develop a nice patina of charred carbon on the ends that makes them soft and allows for easy spreading of cells on plates without gouging. here's the fun part - toothpicks break, so occasionally we have to put new toothpicks into circulation. we buy standard flat toothpics that have a pointy end and a round end. the round end is the useful end, so we want that end down in the storage beaker so it stays sterile. But the toothpicks out of the box are not all facing the same direction. so you have to pour out a pile, arrange them so they're all facing the same direction, and then put them in the beaker to be autoclaved. how. exciting. is. my. life?

our lab slave is at summer camp, so this is why these tasks get passed around. i didn't really have anything to do today, anyway.

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