First Day!!

First day done!! Started at 9.30 and finished at 18.00, there was a lot to take in and it honestly feels like the longest day in history!! I was introduced to everyone including all of the technicians (those contacts I know will definitely come in handy soon). Not only did I get an introduction to the project and a tour around the labs, I actually got to do a few things myself as well.

I learnt how to use an autoclave and I prepared a few LB broths and LB agar, ready to be used for liquid and streak plate culturing respectively. I also made stock solutions of different antibiotics, ampicillin (AMP) and kanamycin (KAN) (which will be used to select for the correctly transformed bacteria), and a stock solution of IPTG (which is a lactose analogue, it will be used to induce expression of my desired proteins). Each one was filter sterilised near a Bunsen burner and the frozen until we need it. Using what I had prepared, I made a total of 10 different cultures from provided glycerol stocks which I incubated overnight.

Today was an introduction and a chance to get used to the lab whilst preparing some of the things I am going to need over the next few weeks. It was also an introduction to working on my own, which will prepare me for what lies ahead.

I also had the chance to meet some of the third year biochemistry students and listen to their presentations on their dissertations. This was a huge opportunity as well as giving me the chance to ask questions about their studies and gain some insight into their research and about the proteins I will be focusing on over the next few weeks.

Today really opened my eyes to what the next eight weeks is going to be like, but it definitely was a long day (I don’t think my feet have ever hurt so much…note to self: wear more comfortable shoes tomorrow).