Introduction

            On my first day at the lab, I met Jonathan and my team; we introduced ourselves to each other. Right away, we set ourselves to practice with micropipettes. We learned the Dos and Don'ts of micro pipetting. There were steps to follow among these procedures, such as not utilizing the pipette without a tip attached and not exceeding the volume limits. Also, we were not to jam the pipette into the tip, given that our mentors let us know that micropipettes are expensive equipment that we can easily damage if not treated with precaution. 

            After getting to know what micropipettes are and how to implement them in the scientific field, my team and I next goal was to make LB and TGY broth. Beyond a scientific definition, what I understood about broth is that it is used as a food for bacteria. In other words, it is a place where bacteria can grow and multiply. 

Materials and Methods

            As I got familiar with the lab procedures, I aimed my attention to practice gram staining of bacteria. First of all, I drew a circle on the slide to better guide me on where to place the bacteria. Second, I added bacteria to the slide and waited close to couple minutes until it was dried. Thirdly, I slightly placed the slide over the flame twice. We must be careful in this step because we can kill the bacteria before we can see it through the microscope. After this process was completed, I added crystal violet to my slide and waited for 60 seconds. Fourthly, I added gram's iodine and waited for 60 seconds. Crystal violet and gram's iodine will help me to see the cell. Next, I carefully added ethanol to the slide for five to seven seconds. It is an important step because the longer ethanol and bacteria are in contact, the higher the risk of killing the bacteria. Lastly, I added safranin and waited approximately 45 seconds. It is necessary to mention that after every step, I rinsed the slide carefully throughout the edges. 

Results

The final step was to see my slide through the microscope, but I couldn't see my results given that my bacteria did not survive under my watch. I couldn't see whether my bacteria was positive or negative, so I developed three hypotheses. The first one was that I exceeded the time while slightly putting it over the flame. Second, I exceeded the time while using ethanol, and thirdly, I did not rinse it gently after each phase. 

 

 

 

Comments

  1. EricaFebruary 12, 2022 at 9:41 AM

    Nice work this week, and best of luck this semester!

    ReplyDelete

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