Saturday, June 23, 2007

Look at this picture:


what do you think of it? What is wrong with it? Nothing? Come on there’s a terrible flaw in it! Look closer. Notice how Dr Jordan Tang holds the Micropipette, that’s not only unorthodox and against the protocol but it’s also impossible to achieve. Notice how this guy holds the micropipette:

You see the micropipette is not called micropipette for nothing it is an instrument used for minute quantities and accurate applications, and Dr Tang is obviously manipulating a cell culture preparation. How is he going to control the micropipette if he holds it like that? We should only hold it like that when we are sucking up substance from a recipient and no precision is required. You see that’s the cool thing about a micropipette, it’s automated it only takes the exact amount of substance, with remarkable precision.
This picture just frustrates me! Now of course Dr Tang knows how to hold a micropipette, but you see this is just Hollywood work, he wasn’t actually manipulating that stuff he was just posing for the camera. You see people like Dr Tang is a head of a research unit he probably never bothers to work on any real manipulation, he has small Indian/South American assistants to do all the hard labor while he works on the abstract aspect. By the way, his findings are pretty interesting, Human Trials Begin For Enzyme Inhibitor Alzheimer's Drug, no I won’t annoy you with the annoying details, but this advance has actually had some success among scientific literature lately… Anyway, back to the subject.

Now what I find most annoying about this is the lack of professionalism in the article that was posted, not that the site is unprofessional, no they give very interesting information, I am in fact pretty much addicted to it. But notice the picture they have posted, so lame! Just so that they would post a picture! They didn’t have to, they didn’t even label the picture well. Now I don’t the poor design of this site, it’s ok, it’s about the content not the looks, but what bothers me is the Bibliography in their articles:
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Which news release? At which date? Which page? Tell us something, ANYTHING! But still I read this site everyday.

15 comments:

NOMAD said...

of course, it seems evident that this "chercheur" is pausing for the photo, I like the way he is "déhanché :lol:

ChrisinMB said...

hmm, maybe Dr Tang just has incredible dexterity when it come to handling pipettes.
So do I, you've seen me manipulate my pipette with great precision & grace right? :D

btw, I'm detecting a theme within the last couple posts. It seems the writer within you is coming to the surface and taking more note of other's styles and work? ;)

ChrisinMB said...

btww, everyone else, I know what you're thinking, so get ya filthy minds outta the gutter :P, no innuendo here. I really do have a nice big red pipette! Doesn't everyone? :-O

Pazuzu HSP said...

chris... why red ? ;)

ChrisinMB said...

"why red?"
I don't know.. they just tend to turn that color when you play with them too much. :(

Unknown said...

Maybe closer to light purple

Pazuzu HSP said...

all the pipettes I ever used, even abusively, maintained their initial color.... must be your rough manipulation, you guys need to get more gentle

ChrisinMB said...

"must be your rough manipulation,"
Perhaps, it also doesn't help matters that I often don't keep it clean and forget to lubricate it regularly.

Sometimes the plunger even sticks and nothing comes out. :(

programmer craig said...

I never knew pipettes were so much fun :O

ChrisinMB said...

...but maybe I just need a cute lab assistant to wash it out for me.

Having a faulty pipette pump means having to manually suck instead. Not that sucking isn't good, sometimes for the small quick jobs it's an easy way to handle the task. But often a nice big pipette pump makes the job more convenient, especially when dispensing large volumes of fluid in tight places.

craig, yes the lab can be a fun place. :D
*Chris runs away and decides to play with his other lab equipment for awhile*

Pazuzu HSP said...

you lubricate your pipettes?

Wow... did you know that in my 4 years experience in the lebanese college we always used oral suction with pipettes, well of course we used alternative means of suction when we finally reached fourth year biology and had to manipulate germs and stuff... But oral suction is just fine, it gets messy though when more than one manipulator are engaged in the process, I once ended up with a huge spot of yellowish/orange fluid on my shirt, I never managed to totally clean it up.

In another incident I sucked up too much in my pipette and it ended up in my mouth, well fortunately it was totally harmless and tasteless

*angel face*

ChrisinMB said...

it just takes some women a little more practice to not spill any... but yeah I heard from someone once that Lebanese women are good at it.

"huge spot of yellowish/orange fluid on my shirt"
Wow, someone really should have a doctor check that out. :O

ChrisinMB said...

"you lubricate your pipettes? "

Sure! Just a small amount of vaseline (Petroleum jelly) around the tip of the pumps piston. Prevents rough movement and sticking during operation. Also keeps the rubber seal soft, keeping it from drying out.

ChrisinMB said...

"in my 4 years experience in the lebanese college we always used oral suction with pipettes"

That could also be a cultural thing. Lebanon is still relatively conservative. Some view sucking pipettes as more socially acceptable than using the pumps.

Unknown said...

ooooohh! you guys are killin' me! LMAO