Hello! I hope everyone who had their spring break last week had fun.
This week I will continue to get certified to work in the vivarium with the mice. I have already completed a "Risk Assessment Form", which is a form that asks if I have any allergies and if I have gotten all my vaccinations. I have also completed a "CITI Training" online course, which gives information about proper procedures when working with animals. This morning I am working on finishing the "Bloodborne Pathogen Safety Training", which is an online course giving information about how to avoid exposure to Bloodborne pathogens, and what to do if exposed.
When I finish all these certifications, I will get additional training in the vivarium about how to work with the mice.
Also, if you have any questions about the images of the lab I posted last week, leave them in the comments!
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Hello again!
I finished the online safety training yesterday, so now I am just waiting for UA to approve me to work in the vivarium. While I am waiting, I emptied the dishwasher and autoclaved some pipette tips and distilled water. I am a little worried about the water, because apparently if you screw the lids tight on the jars of water they will explode in the hot autoclave, and if you don't screw on the lids at all the water will bubble out. So fingers crossed I screwed on the lids just right?
I am also learning how to use Image J. It is a free program I will be using to count the green dots on pictures of the brain I was imaging. I will get more training on how to use it tomorrow, but I have been playing around with it today for practice.
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I helped make a buffer today, and I got training on how to count the labeling on the mouse brains.
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This Thursday I went to a neuroscience symposium at ASU with one of the graduate students working in the lab. There were lots of posters from graduate and undergraduate students about the neuroscience research they are working on, and afterwards there was a lecture from two professors about ethics and law of neuroscience. I really enjoyed going, not only because of the interesting research the students doing, but also because I got to talk to them about their experiences at ASU. It was kind of reassuring that I am not the only one who doesn't know exactly what career I want. Also as an added bonus there was free lunch!
Friday I will work on counting the labeling on the mouse brains. See you next week!
Hi Serena! I found it very interesting that the way in which you screw on the lid has a major impact. What is the science or reading behind the jar exploding or the water bubbling out? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHeated water expands. In a closed space this builds up pressure.
DeleteHey, Serena! Hope you had an enjoyable Spring Break!! I know I've probably said this at the beginning of each week, but I can't believe we'll soon be starting Week 7. I wish you luck on getting approval from UA, but you probably don't need any. For my question, what was some of the neuroscience research you found to be the most interesting at the symposium? Keep up the awesome work!
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of interesting research at the symposium. I heard about some research studying addiction in rats, one studying proprioception in humans, and another studying antenna movements in bees in response to different scents. It was cool to see the variety of research.
DeleteHi, Serena! It seems like a lot of training is needed for lab work! It must be quite a hassle, but, of course, very necessary and helpful. By the way, what do the green dots in the images mean? And how did the water turn out? I hope everything ended up all right for you. I cannot believe it's week six already! I enjoy reading your blog and hope you like the lab. Please keep updating us!
ReplyDeleteThe water turned out fine. The dots are labeling of serotonin 2A receptors.
DeleteIt is pretty incredible how many things can go wrong in the lab - something as simple as screwing lids on just right! From your experiences, have you become more or less interested in the field of neuroscience? What do you enjoy/dislike about the research process so far?
ReplyDeleteI was very interested in the field of neuroscience before, and I still am. I have enjoyed the chance to see the real world applications of the concepts I learned in school, and I have enjoyed learning not only about neuroscience, but also about how a lab functions day to day. The only thing I would say I disliked about the experience so far was the monotonous nature of some of the tasks, like imaging slides. After five hours of sitting in a tiny room in the dark doing the same task over and over on a computer I get pretty bored. However, overall this has been a really great experience.
DeleteHi Serena! Since you'll be working with animals in this project, I wanted to know how you feel about working with animals? Is this something you're comfortable with? And if so, that's amazing!
ReplyDeleteI think it is unfortunate that animals are used for these studies, but realistically, there are some things that can't be studied without using animals. I am comfortable working with the animals because I see the benefit of the studies being done.
DeleteHey Serena,
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to hear this week has been so succesful and that you got to interact with other students and lab coworkers! Could you explain what buffer you helped make? Also, what do the dots mean? Should there be a lot of dots or a little? I hope you your next week in the lab is just as exciting as this one!
Julie Loison
The buffer was used in the genotyping (gel electrophoresis). The green dots are serotonin 2A receptors.
Deletehey Serena, its amazing to hear how much training you need! but i can see why it is necessary as things can explode in the lab. i hope you get approved because then you can get into the finer details. is the mouse brain in the picture a normal brain or one that has been altered?
DeleteHi Serena! I'm happy to hear how well your work in the lab is going, but the work does seem quite tedious! What exactly did you study at the neuroscience symposium at ASU? We're there specific areas that interested you more than others? I can't wait to read next week's blogs! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSophia Vaidya
There was a big variety of topics at the neuroscience symposium. I heard about some research studying addiction in rats, one studying proprioception in humans, and another studying antenna movements in bees in response to different scents. It was cool to see the variety of research.
DeleteHey Serena! It's great to hear that you are enjoying yourself as well as learning a lot. What exactly is Image J and how does it work? Is it important to your research?
ReplyDeleteImage J is a program that has many uses. It can edit images, be used to count certain types of labeling, etc. We were using it to create uniformly sized sections of the brain, and in those sections we counted the dots. The program is used to get the data for the research I am helping with.
DeleteHey Serena, I can't believe that just closing the lid of a container could be done wrong and in turn have terrible consequences! I wanted to ask are there any size differences concerning the green dots and if so what does the size of the green dot mean?
ReplyDeleteThanks and good luck!
The green dots should all be about the same size, because they are nerve cells and should be roughly uniform. If a dot is significantly bigger or smaller than the rest, it is probably not a cell and we won't count it.
DeleteHi Serena! Sounds like you are learning a lot at your internship. I was wonderifing if the certifications are just for your internship or if they work in general. For example, if you had to do the same thing somewhere else would those certifications work or would you have to go through the training again? Looking forwad to next week!
ReplyDeleteThe certifications only apply to working for UA facilities. If I worked at another UA lab in the future I could transfer the certifications, but every organization is different, so if I worked at another lab I would need to get their certifications.
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