Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sterile Techniques in the Gey Lab
Starts on page 37. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been creating a aseptic lab room. I really enjoyed the description of Mary's routine just to attempt to pass cells that she didn't even think would survive. Later in the chapter the author also describes how Gey designed suspension rollers. I thought that was really cool especially since we just grew suspension cells... but our line doesn't require rollers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find science back then interesting. When a scientist needed an instrument they created it. There wasn't companies that mass produced items. The not knowing how to get tissues to survive and grow had to be frustrating but exciting. They tried many things to create a nutrient media. The thought of needing a slaughter house was kind of crazy.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have to think about the big stuff anymore. It must be neat to know (for Gey) that his protocols and inventions had aided in the advancement of cell cultures.
It seems like being a scientist back then may have required more innovation than it does now. Or at least, one needed to be a Jack of all trades if they wanted to get things done. Although, a friend of mine works in a physics research lab and I always hear about them having to build this or fabricate that for whatever experiment they wanted to run. So I suppose as long as science is progressing we'll always need to innovate new equipment or materials.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't imagine the aseptic techniques and conditions to be much different than what we do today. In labs, our techniques are crude yet most of the time, they are pretty sterile if done right. I'm more impressed with the invention of the cell growth techniques that still run the same way and how some of the methods have barely changed.
ReplyDelete