A solution to sonicate small amount of samples!!

Have you ever given a task to sonicate a puny tiny amount of cells/samples?

Well, here is a tool that can really help you!! A cup horn made by Sonics & Materials, Inc can sonicate samples in 1.6ml eppendorf tubes.

Here are the links to the product description

http://www.sonics.biz/lp-accessories-large.htm

http://www.sonics.biz/liquid-newsheet/LargeVolAcess/LargevolFlowCells%26CupHorn.pdf

Portable PH meter

After the HCl fume incident, I decided to get a portable PH meter for our research group. After explaining what is going on in the labs to a Primary Investigator, I got a permission to purchase one. (He offered to get one for the entire group!!)

So, here is what it looks like. The pH meter is Denver Instrument UltraBasic Portable Meters.
We found a small box and placed all the calibration buffers as well as manual.

One step closer to a safer laboratory practice!!

Training new lab members

Having worked in labs for sometime, I came to realize that a lot of people read a resume, hire a new lab personnel, and assume the new member can perform without almost any training because the new member's resume indicated he/she had done it before.
A lot of time hiring decision is done solely by a primary investigator (PI) and for some reason they tend to think

"This person has a MS degree and some experience in research so he/she should know how to do XYZ protocol"

or

" This person has done this protocol/experiment before, he/she should be able to do what we do here".

What these PIs tend to forget is that every lab do the same experiment differently and every person has his/her way of doing things. It is wrong to assume the new lab member will do exactly the way the PI wanted without any proper training.

This is also true for experienced lab members. I have seen so many times, existing lab members assume a new lab member can complete an experiment the second day he/she joined the lab just because the new member has a MS degree.

So what is a good way to train a new lab member?

1)Explain and demonstrate the procedure.
Just let the new members to watch and point out what is important as well as to remind them to take notes.

2)Let the new member to carry out the procedure once with your supervision.
This will give the new members a chance to feel what it feels like to actually do it.

3)Let the new member to carry out the procedure without your supervision, BUT be sure to stay near by in case they have questions.
This will make the new members to really think about what they are doing. Be prepare to answer a lot of questions. If there is no questions, be sure to peak and check on what is going on because most of the time they are doing something wrong.
Additionally, This step will also give the new member an impression that you trust him/her and think he/she is capable enough to carry out the procedure by themselves.

Note: If you feel the new member is not ready for step 3), make sure to repeat step 2) several times. This happens commonly when training volunteers because they may not have science background.

How to mix centrifuge tubes fast, gently and efficiently?

Have you ever got so frustrated while mixing those small centrifuge tubes? Especially when you cannot mix them with a Vortex Genie mixer because the protocol needs you to mix the samples gently!

Imagine if you have to mix 20 tubes of such samples!!! Instead of tapping the tubes with your index finger (maybe you are using middle finger by now), try using an empty tip box. You can hold two to three centrifuge tubes at once and mix the samples fast, gently, and efficiently!!

The Apprentice™ Rotating Desk Organizer

I am a big fun of the TV show Apprentice. It was sad that Donald Trump decided to discontinue the show but I believe he will come up with exciting TV shows again in the near future.

The Apprentice™ Rotating Desk Organizer was created in one of the episode that each team had to come up with a product for Staples the stationary supplier.

I bought one of this for the lab and it is a wonderful fit for the lab!! You can put so many things inside the organizer. It is a little big so I got a tray and put the organizer on the top. Now we have a portable stationary station.

Squeeze everything you can in the lab

If you have worked in a lab (especially University lab), then you probably have come across to space problems.

Here is one of my idea. I purchased some file boxes and put them right next to the small space of my desk. These spaces exist in other labs too (every lab is the same and that is how most research buildings are designed) but they are used for putting umbrella, small boxes, old posters or some junk.

Look around your lab, there may be spaces you can turn them into something else.