Rebellious Cell Lines

http://www.calpaclab.com/science-jokes/

Hello all and welcome to the blog!

 

My week at the lab has been full of promise (and, maybe some progress). Much has been learned from last week, and I am beginning to think that next week may be even better.

 

Let me start off by giving the status of the sad cell line from last week: dying, as ever. But, I am now aware of multiple factors that may have led to its slow demise.

1.      This cell line especially likes crowding. My experiment does not.

2.      This cell line has been growing poorly for everyone at the lab, perhaps hinting that the cell line itself is having an issue.

3.      The cell counter is poor at reading viability.

 

So, luckily for us, the cells may not be dying off quite as dramatically as we’d originally thought. If anything, it may just be a case of teen-rebellion on this growing cell line’s part. After all, it can be difficult for pubescent cell lines to deal with new changes in their petri dish like finding glutamine out of nowhere in their fetal plex media.

 

But, just to help them get more situated, I’ve spun down the cells and put them in some fresh media, so hopefully we will see some improvement next week.

 

More good news: the experiment is finally showing signs of working. Our cell lines are reacting to the drug as we’d predicted. This time, it might just be a good thing that they’re dying. But, I should only know the official results of the test on Monday.

 

Until then, thank you for reading!

Angela

A Somber Start

A small piece of ice which lived in a test tube fell in love with a Bunsen burner.
"Bunsen, my flame! I melt whenever I see you!" said the ice.
The Bunsen burner replied, "It's just a phase you're going through."

(http://www.calpaclab.com/science-jokes/)

 

Good morning and welcome back!

 

It’s been a crazy time at the lab, with no signs of stopping. To begin with, we’ve hit a bump in the road with our experiment. Having received unexpected results, we’ve decided to back up a little and try to understand what went wrong and to recreate the biotech company’s experiment to make sure that we are able to arrive at the same conclusion. Despite our trial and error, the biotech company has been great at collaborating and helping us continue with the experiment.

 

In addition to this small bump, one of the cell lines is dying. And this time, it wasn’t on purpose. This particular cell line tends to thrive in crowded conditions, so we suspect that its sudden demise is due to our dilution of it (which the experiment required). No worries, we have a second batch ready to go and we will be holding a bleach funeral for the sad first batch.

 

With all this, something good was bound to happen. And it took form in understanding. On Friday mornings, the lab staff gather to hold a meeting in order to discuss their experiments. Dr. Bergsagel presented his findings regarding patients who were going through the clinical trial. It was only then that I realized what a host of treatment myeloma patients must go through. Multiple myeloma is not curable as of today. Part of this is because every person reacts differently to the drugs given to them. There are about 5-10 different genetic groupings for myeloma, and there are double that many drugs to treat it. So, each patient had to go through at least 4 different phases of drugs, some with good reactions and others not. Each patient receives a trial-and-error of cocktail drugs that hopefully have an effect. Through this, it became clear to me that individualized medicine (medical treatment that is fitted specifically to each person) may hold the brightest future for myeloma. With so many different genetic lines that can lead to myeloma, which all differ in treatment, it becomes almost crucial for us to study myeloma in terms of genetics. And now understanding this more, I feel certainly blessed to have been given the opportunity to help begin this journey.

 

Until then, thank you for reading.

Angela

"What are we going to do today, Brain?" "The same thing we do every day, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

"Biology is the only science in which multiplication is the same thing as division."

 

Hello, and welcome back!

 

It’s my first official week working on my Senior Research Project over at the Scottsdale Mayo Clinic, and I’m already learning and growing. Literally. I’ve got myeloma cell lines growing out of petri dishes like chia seeds on a clay Scooby Doo.

The uncanny similarities….

 

Backing up a bit, I began the week discussing our battle plans against these myeloma cell lines. Armed with some pipettes and a little bit of trypan blue, the lab has teamed up with a pharmaceutical company in order to look at other ways to manipulate myeloma. We have decided to test antisense oligonucleotides (ASO’s), which attach to mRNA to stop its manufacture of protein, specifically for myeloma, IRF4. Recent studies have shown that IRF4 may be the “Achilles Heel” in the Trojan war against myeloma. Myeloma seems to feed off of the production of IRF4, and an arrow to the production of IRF4 may kill myeloma cells entirely without harming normal cells. So, the question remains, can ASO’s be this arrow? And, will all types of myeloma be subject to the predicted effects? If not, why?

 

With these technical plans set firmly in the future, my present is momentarily absorbed by the certainty of two things:

1.      The equation (M₁)(V₁)=(M₂)(V₂) is not to be underestimated

2.      Pipetting requires serious deltoid muscles

 

Despite my aching arms, working at the lab has definitely been the highlight of my week. It’s been a whirlwind of warming media, using acronyms, looking under microscopes, and being totally amazed by the advancement of science.

 

I hope to see you again next week!

Until then, thank you and happy reading!

 

-Angela (or “The (M₁)(V₁)=(M₂)(V₂) girl”)