PCR

Ok, for anybody who has had any doubts that I am NOT a complete nerd, you're wrong, and here's the proof. This is a promotional video from a company called BioRad that makes all sorts of different kinds of lab equipment, including PCR machines. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is a method to exponentially amplify a sample of DNA. It's used a lot to help in crime scenes, since they can use a tiny DNA sample like a few skin cells or a hair and amplify it, and then possibly get a suspect.

I've never actually performed PCR myself, but I still work in a lab, and I find this to be really funny, but like I said, I am a nerd.



As a side note, I think the old guy who sings in here is actually the inventor of PCR.

Slime

Whenever SPICE goes out and does a "family science night" show at a local elementary show, it usually requires some sort of hands-on type of experiment for kids to do. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is for the kids to make some slime. It's easy, quick, fun, and o so messy, which everyone except the parents love.

We usually do two or three different types of slimes, which is a great way to teach kids about polymers (long chains of molecules), and how lots of different things are made of them, like clothing and plastics.

One type of slime is the kind that most people usually made during elementary or middle school. All you do is get some borax (a detergent) at the store, mix it with some water to dissolve it, and then mix in some Elmer's glue. This one is really easy and cheap, and kids can put in a few drops of food coloring and put it in a bag to take home.

One of my favorite "slimes" is just cornstarch and water. (2 parts cornstarch to one part water). If you watch Mythbusters like I do, they did this one on their show. When you mix it in the right ratio, you get a mixture that is liquid when you pour it or let it rest, but when you apply a force to it (poke it, stir it, etc) it acts like a solid. Its not really a polymer, but what happens is that the starch molecules are very large and branched, so when you apply force, the molecules are shoved together and they can't move past each other, so the mixture acts like a solid. If you don't apply force, the molecules are able to slowly move past each other, so the mixture looks like a liquid.

Try it!

Beautiful Brain Cells

Talking about all of the procedures and in depth stuff that I do in the lab I work in gets really boring for people who have absolutely no idea what anything I say means. So this time, I figured I would just show some of the stuff that I've done in the past.

These are a few pictures of various brain cells that I took on our half-million dollar microscope when I was just starting in lab:

This is an image of a young neuron that hasn't differentiated yet; that is, it hasn't distinctly formed an axon and dendrites. (Axon - information shipping Dendrite - information receiving) These cells were grown for one or two days, and then fixed (killed) with formaldehyde so we could stain them and see them under the microscope. The bright green regions are called growth cones: areas where both axons and dendrites extend.

This is an image of a bunch of neurons growing from somewhere on the right, with a few nice growth cone regions.

A really huge growth cone on a non-neuronal cell (I don't know what kind of cell it actually is). I just think this one looks like a brain cell with a mohawk.

Finally, another couple neurons with very large growth cone regions.

A Haiku Collection About Neuroscience, Chemical Demonstrations, and the Like, Written by People who Know Nothing About It

So I was out tonight, trying to figure out what I should write on my blog before class on Monday. I was with some friends, and I explained to them that I need to write on a blog for one of my classes, and the topic should be related to either the research I do in lab, or to SPICE.

Most of this was championed by my girlfriend, but here's what our collective minds came up with. Some of it is about brains, some about spice, and some are just weird, but just as fun.

Dendrites, synapses
My brain's working very hard
Neurons are firing

Tiny mouse babies
I remove them from the womb
And take out their brains
It is for science
Society benefits
Don't judge my actions

Here, this is your brain
That Chris extracted for you
Ow! labotomy!

Brains are good for you
Hannibal Lector ate one
Frankenstein stole one

Clouds reflect the moon
Quietly mice are sqeaking
They fear the scissors

I send and receive
Like a tiny post office
Sometimes I get spam

Beer, beer, beer, beer, beer
Alcohol slows my senses
The floor is quite cold

I scare small children
Explosions from chemicals
Demonstrate science

Goop and flames combined
to entertain the public
I like chemicals