Lately, I have been swamped at work. I am working on multiple projects now, and some days at work are crazy. It's weird because most graduate students start out with a few projects and narrow it down, once one becomes more promising than the others, but I did the opposite- started on one project and am branching out 3 years later. I feel better spreading out the chips a bit, and it has been fun starting new things.
For example, I transformed and grew bacteria for the last couple of days in order to purify some DNA. This is so exciting for me, because I have never done much molecular/micro biology, and at the end, you get a clear reading of how much DNA you have...in micrograms! Is it just me, or does LB Broth smell like chicken broth? Every time I pour some to grow bacteria in, I think about what LB would taste like. Yep, I'm totally that person who wonders what dog food tastes like. I'll try to restrain myself.
Another new technique I have been trying to master for the past month and a half is performing whole cell recordings in neurons or "patching". I still think it is so nuts that you can place an electrode into a neuron and record its electrical activity. This week, I finally started getting the whole procedure down and successfully patching into healthy neurons.
I guess this is the neat thing about doing research- once things get routine, you can always switch things up a bit, approach the problem from a different angle. Okay well, off to start another busy and hopefully productive day.
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2 comments:
I don't think LB smells like chicken broth, but I do find it to be a very comforting smell :). Except when it's stale. I cleaned out a few shelves last week that a former grad student never emptied when he left and there was LB broth in there from 2001. It was disgusting!
I love that chicken is such a universal scent. how many things do you know smell like chicken?
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