S3:17 Hickup in the Lab

https://today.anl.gov/2016/08/safety

Hickup in the Lab
This week in the lab I had a minor setback. On Sunday night a back dilution for the yeast culture was started in preparation for the transformation phase of the project. On Monday morning, when the yeast cells were checked for their phase of growth, it was realized that they were not in the optimal growth phase. After, we decided that it was best to redo the back dilution of cells to make sure they were in their optimal phase of growth before we performed the thirty-five transformations.  I'm looking forward to performing the transformations next week.

S3:16 Transformation Tuesday

Transformation Tuesday

This week in the lab, we took the L40 bait and transformed the cells onto media plates. The cells grew over the course of a few days. Before we transformed the bait onto the plates, I had to prepare the media, autoclave it, and then pour the plates. It is a fun process but can get a bit messy because the agar turns into a jello-like consistency pretty quickly once it gets spilled. Next week in the lab, we will work on the next steps in the transformation process and do a total of thirty transformations. 

S3:15 Falling Back into the Rhythm of Science-ing

First I must express that I am glad the Fall semester has begun. During this semester, I will be at ASU-West under the direction of Dr. Marshall. The goal for the next few months is to become familiar with the Yeast Two Hybrid Protocol. Additionally, I will be experimenting with different Yeast Two Hybrid Library screens. The video above depicts a segment from the DNA Plasmid Maxiprep that we performed this week in the lab. It was as slimy and slippery to work with as it looks in the video! Next week, we will work on transforming the bait. I can't wait!