The devil is in the details

The flow cytometry fairy

I've been rather productive lab-wise over the past few weeks. Most of the experiments that I have done, planned and/or analyzed involve using a technique called "flow cytometry." This technique involves using a very sophisticated machine (aptly called a flow cytometer) to examine the proteins on the surface of or inside cells which lets you determine what kind of cells they are as well as various things about the cells. This technique works by binding specific fluorescent antibodies to the proteins and then exciting the fluorescent antibodies with lasers and then detecting the emitted fluorescence with special detectors/computers. Scientifically, this is useful because you can look at multiple proteins at the same time and can look at them cell by cell. It is pretty much the major technology used by immunologists. (Non-immunologists who read this might be confused, since they sometimes use flow cytometers for other purposes, mostly for looking at DNA.)

Anyway, the average machine that every lab has can detect the fluorescence of 4 colors (and thus the expression of 4 proteins). Our lab has a 4 of the 4 color machines and also a machine that can detect 18 colors. I have recently been using the 18 color machine (but only doing ~10 colors) for most of my experiments and have been planning many more experiments for use on this machine. The machine itself is really easy to operate, although the analysis afterwards can be somewhat complicated. As I analyzed last week, I had a number of issues and ended up making myself a "to read about" list.

Yesterday I went to a seminar about flow cytometry...theory, issues that can arise and a lot about how you should properly do experiments involving lots of colors. The seminar was very informative but also very worrying, as I was planning to do a risky multicolor experiment yesterday afternoon and had learned about many things that I ought to have included. I was not at all disappointed to learn that one of my buffers had not arrived from the buffer store, meaning that the experiment had to be postponed.

I ended up doing quite a bit of reading and research about the technique during the day yesterday (while setting up other experiments and such.) I found most of the information I was looking for, felt a little better about experiment setup (now planned for tomorrow) and went home from lab around 6:20pm.

When I arrived this morning at 7:50, on my desk I found AN ENTIRE TEXTBOOK about flow cytometry that someone had photocopied and left for me. It seems extremely useful. I have no idea who might have done it (both because it had to happen between 7:30 pm when other people left and 7:50 am this morning)...I asked the people knowledgeable about flow as well as the people who knew that I was looking up information yesterday-none of them are responsible. I would like to thank someone, but I don't know who. My only explanation is that it was the flow cytometry fairy who photocopied the book and gave it to me.

It's nice to have one of those kind of days every so often.

posted by Immunegirl @ 1:28 PM