An end to lab fun?
I realised today I only have a fortnight left on my lab project. At first, the actual subject seemed pretty boring, but now i’ve really got into it. Having struggled so far with one half of my mutants (three times they’ve died, I only have one surviving to produce protein). Now there are the opportunities of extra substrates, possible inhibitors and…crystallisation!
I love crystallisation, my first experience (beyond copper sulphate and a bit of string) was back in January in our “Structural Molecular Biology” lab. We took a tray with 24 wells, and using a range of pH and bits and bobs, found out which was the best to crystallise. Of course, we only looked at what actually crystallised, not the structure etc. I don’t understand the whole turning scattered electron images back into a real 3D structure, but it’s amazing.
I’m starting to realise maybe I am getting too into this whole science thing.
In other news, I was chatting to Adrian (one of the doctors in the lab) at lunch time, and saw Sarah from the other side of the hall. Rather than “hello” she shrieked “What is wrong with your eye?”…turns out its gross and bloodshot (and has been all day) but no one thought to point it out. Sometimes people are too polite. Trouble is, I didn’t spot it until it was brought to my attention, now my eye stings and feels a little strange.