Oh Boy!!!

On Monday we re-spread our plates from Day 1 because they were in the incubator for 2 weeks. Generally, after 2 weeks the plates are no good. We transferred cells from the original plates onto the same solid media that they were in before. We also inoculated cells into liquid media of the same content. We also did a serial dilution like we did last week, using the our soil sample from Little Red Hill. I made a mistake by putting 1 gram of soil into each of the 3 tubes, it was only supposed to be one. It wasn’t a big deal. I poured 9 ml of PCB into 2 new tubes to continue with the dilution. We also looked at a powerpoint slideshow of organisms that had been exposed to various amounts of radiation. Blastococcus, which so happens to be the strains that were assigned to my group, was able to withstand high amounts of radiation. We were told that if the organisms are taken from a dry, non-arid source and are exposed to radiation they will survive for longer periods of time. However, if the organism comes from the same exact source and is put into liquid, it will not be able to withstand exposure for long periods of time. Dr. Rainey said that we may be able to go to the Nuclear Science building and actually see the radiation exposure "machine." After we get FBI clearance of course. LoL