Where the magic happens!

So last week i started working in one of the research labs at Strathclyde Uni! To be honest most of the work going on there is way above my level of understanding! Trying to explain what i do is pretty difficult as i myself don't really understand it but we'll have a go!

So my work revolves around genetic manipulation of Streptomyces coelicolor and the genes involved in the regulation of cell wall construction and manipulation such as FtsZ. Its not exactly FtsZ but i've as yet to work out exactly which gene i need to isolate! Hopefully from there i can knock out some genes to evaluate what they actually do! From there hopefully fluorescent microscopy can be used to image the bacteria during mitosis. (again i think thats what we'll do!)

So here is the uber high tech research lab! I always expected it to be an uber neat collection of clean glasswear and neat tidy benches! Instead it seems to be piles of petri dishes and randomly labelled bottles everywhere! There is an order to the chaos but i have as yet to grasp it!!!

So in order to keep the bacteria from escaping the lab we use a containment hood to keep the bacteria from escaping the lab. To be honest its a bit overkill as the bacteria is non pathogenic and is unable to live outside the lab environment! It also helps keep our samples free from contamination! The goon in the picture is the other Chris. Having two Chris' working on the same project can be rather confusing!

So thats my research in a nutshell!