Hello Everyone! It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through our summer research program, still feels as if it has only just begun. This week’s assignment is to describe a day in the life and what our labs are like.
Due to the nature of the protocols I am running, I have been getting up rather early to get started on my work so I can leave at a reasonable time each day. For the past week, I have been into the lab by 6:30AM and begin working on my whole mount in situ hybridizations (WISH). This protocol usually requires at least four hours if not more a day of work since it undergoes a variety of washes at different stages. The point of the protocol is to visually display gene expression in the tissue as previously mentioned. It requires four basic steps in the protocol, spread over three days: (1) treatment of tissue with Proteinase K to open cell membranes, (2) binding of mRNA within the cell with synthesized RNA probe, (3) binding of antibody-phosphotase with RNA probe, and (4) staining of antibodies. This past week I was finally able to get the protocol to work well with probes I synthesized the week before, and I got some quality images out of it as well (unfortunately, I will not be able to put those images on this blog). In the WISH protocol there are several washes that last anywhere from 30min to 2 hours, so I plan other experiments in the mean time to maximize my productivity. I will usually cut fins from a different mutant and place them at 33˚C overnight and fix their fins the next day for future WISH experiments. I am usually able to grab lunch around 12:30 or 1pm and then can leave the lab by 4-5pm. One thing I have really enjoyed about research is the flexibility of my schedule, as long as I get my work done I can work whatever hours I want, which has been fantastic, allowing me to get over to Wilson gym and what not. Moreover, I will be beginning to tackle some of the other projects on my summer research list in the coming weeks.
I’m definitely looking forward to the remainder of the program.
Until next time,
Alex
