This past week in the lab we helped Dr. Barcelo process Lil's amniotic fluid. Some of the things we learned from him included pipetting, culturing cells, and how to use filters. Dr. Barcelo also taught us the three stages of parturition. Before we could begin any lab work, we had to ensure the lab was spick and span, this meant mopping and spraying all counters. The reason behind this is because a dirty lab could contaminate the product. If the tainted product is used on a patient, then they might develop infections. So it is best to keep the lab clean before any work begins. We also helped package some of the product to be shipped out to veterinarians all across the country.
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| Lil's Amnion |
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| Cell Incubator |
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| Cell Culture Plates |
Filtering amniotic fluid
Are any of you learning about the "business" side of Biotechnology like this. AniCell made the final brackets of Arizona's VENTURE MADNESS investment event. Are any of you going to attend that event and see "the pitch"? It would be fascinating! I think they have an amazing shot in the competition!
ReplyDeleteHey Nikash!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so interesting! What lab skill did you find was the most interesting and possibly useful for your future interests?
Hi Anna,
DeleteThe most interesting skill was definitely learning how to use filters. It's pretty cool to see how small the filters have to be, and even at such small sizes, it may still not be enough to eliminate 100% of the contaminants. As for the most useful skill, I believe all of the skills I have learned are equally important in almost all laboratory settings.
Thanks for the comment!
Awesome Nikash! What kind of cells do you culture?
ReplyDeleteHey Jaeyoung,
ReplyDeleteWe were actually not culturing cells. Rather, we were using it to culture bacteria. We were doing this to test how clean our sample was. We treated the sample with an antibody that was supposed to kill the bacteria. The purpose of the cultures was to compare the amount of bacteria before and after we treated the sample.
Thanks for the comment!
This is impressive Nikash! Looks like you have gathered a lot of information and are enjoying working here. I have a few questions on collecting the amniotic fluid and the studies involving the use of the amniotic fluid for treatment. I look forward to meeting you on Monday.
ReplyDelete