Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Pappa » Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:37 pm

nellikin wrote:I think 'clean bench' is the name of the sterile workspace (which blows air to avoid microbes settling on it). You need an autoclave to sterilise your flasks etc. prior to cultivating microbes. Cultivation generally is done on agar plates with specially added nutrients for specific bacteria, though this is being replaced by genetic identification. These days PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is used to amplify DNA for sequencing. Also, FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridisation) with RNA probes for genetic identification of microbes. Bacteria and stained (often with DAPI or other nasties) prior to identification with a micorscope.

Cultivation is done in standard ovens at different temperatures. You'll need pipettes and vitamin mixes and millipore water (sterile, ultrapure) and all sorts of things. Microtiters and bacterial assay kits are also used to identify / quantify microbes. I think viruses are cultivated using tissue cultures, in funny flasks that lie on their side.

Are these the sorts of things you meant?
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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Tero » Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:04 am

But you gotta have the disposable tyvek suits and hoods.
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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Pappa » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:56 am

Tero wrote:But you gotta have the disposable tyvek suits and hoods.
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That would be a pretty good idea too. :biggrin:

All these things mentioned are saving me wading through an awful lot of internetz.

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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by nellikin » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:36 pm

Don't forget your lab basics like copious amounts of isopropanol, ethanol, formaldehyde etc. for disinfection, conservation etc. Then there are disposable gloves, lab coats, safety glasses etc. Stuff that you use everyday but rarely even think of. Oh, and microscope slides for analyses and a fluorescence microscope is cool blah blah blah. Some labs also use chemostats as bioreactors for growing microorganisms. They're cool for maintaining stable conditions and being able to vary just the concentration of nutrients, so as to control microbial growth. Gel electrophoresis is used to separate DNA etc. prior to staining with ethidium bromide (nasty stuff!) for sequencing/visualisation etc. There are loads of techniques and it really depends upon your application as to what you'll need...

Google should help out here. also, are you wanting to do chemical analyses or just microbiology?
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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Pappa » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:52 pm

I ♥ Nellikin.

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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by apophenia » Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:54 am



and beaker.

beaker. beaker. beaker. more beaker.

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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by mistermack » Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:11 pm

Lots of glass tubes bubbling, and things that look like microwaves but aren't.
And gadgets with lights that flash on and off.
And men with beards and scottish accents, and women with glasses.
Oh, and a canary and a rat.

That should cover it.
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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Pappa » Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:56 pm

I really should start working on this sometime soon. :ask:
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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by JimC » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:44 am

mistermack wrote:Lots of glass tubes bubbling, and things that look like microwaves but aren't.
And gadgets with lights that flash on and off.
And men with beards and scottish accents, and women with glasses.
Oh, and a canary and a rat.

That should cover it.
Apart from the Scottish accents, that sounds like my high school science lab! :tup:

(the rat ate the canary, though...)
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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Pappa » Mon Nov 05, 2012 3:56 pm

Bumping this because I've actually made a start on the game.

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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Calilasseia » Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:23 pm

Some items you might want to add ...

[1] Petri dishes for bacterial culture
[2] Microtome for slicing material for microscope slides
[3] Thermostatically controlled water bath for such things as melting biological setting wax, which you encase specimens such as whole insects in before slicing them in the microtome
[4] Low power stereo microscope with camera attachment (known in the trade as a trinocular microscope) to work with fiddly specimens
[5] Cabinets for keeping slides (these are usually the size of a bathroom first aid cabinet)
[6] Assorted laboratory glassware - beakers, conical flasks, pipettes, including glassware with measuring gradations
[7] Various bottles containing such substances as microscopy stains, fixatives, mordants, etc
[8] Various dissecting instruments - scalpels, straight and bent dissection needles (the latter are essential for entomology work), forceps, etc
[9] Bunsen burner and gas tap for when you're heating things (e.g., when using Ziehl-Neelson stains for tuberculosis and leprosy samples)
[10] Small bottles of concentrated acids for specialist processes (e.g., Ziehl-Neelson staining again)
[11] Incubator cabinet for Petri dishes and bacterial cultures
[12] Autoclave for sterilising instruments & glassware (modern ones look like microwave ovens)
[13] Someone's already mentioned a fluorescence microscope (which is a large and heavy instrument) - you might want to consider a confocal laser microscope (again a substantial piece of kit) if you're thinking of virology work, to go with the mega expensive electron microscope and ancillaries
[14] A couple of yellow 'biohazard' marked disposal bins, including one marked "sharps" for things such as disposable hypodermics
[15] Dispenser for those translucent latex gloves used when handling pathogenic materials
[16] Someone's already mentioned a glove box (you stick your hands in the gloves and manipulate things in a negative pressure hermetically sealed environment when handling major biohazards)

If you want an elementary introduction to some of this kit, get hold of this book. It's aimed at children, was written in the 1970s, and might seem out of date, but it's still extremely useful as an insight into the world of the microscope and its applications. It'll introduce you to one or two of the techniques that professionals use in the laboratory even today, and act as a springboard from which you can add more kit to your virtual lab.

Additionally, go here and look up the microscope section. The dissection section will also be informative.

You'll find a mass of up to date equipment to browse through here. Weep at the prices. :mrgreen:

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Re: Microbiology / Genetics question (dear ask a nerd)

Post by Tero » Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:39 pm

Feck wrote:
Pappa wrote:
Clinton Huxley wrote:You need one of those chambers, where you stick your hands inside encased in rubber gloves
Oh god yes.... for sure. What are they called? :ask:
Women ? :leave:
That, or glove box.

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