Carb Frenzy

Hello labbies,

I'm finishing my first carb analysis pilot run this evening, and will be needing help weighing out samples, and any extra hands that are available over the next couple of weeks.

The process takes about 2 days for each set of samples, with the first day consisting of several washes with ethanol, hot water baths, some centrifuging, and then the addition of a buffer and an enzyme which digests starch to glucose over a 24 hour period. There is some down-time between ethanol washes, but I spent most of it messing around with equipment and getting ready for the next wash - this is where extra hands would be awesome.

The second day involves one last enzymatic reaction, which uses NADH as a proxy for glucose concentration, and is measurable with UV via spectrophotometer. I haven't done this part yet, and suspect that I will be getting the hang of the spec tonight (when no one will be able to hear me cuss).

I'm still working out the kinks, and may do a second pilot run starting tomorrow morning now that I am aware of a number of procedural issues (static charge of plastic containers affecting the samples, hot water bath problems, blah blah blah.)

While I'm doing all of this stuff, I will be moving around from the RiverLab, to the Schimel Lab, to the common room like a crazy person, so just give me a call if you are available and need something interesting to do (it will give you a work-out - maybe).

Gail

p.s. Aren't you proud of me Kristin? I posted my first blog.