Mythology hunting and science hypocrisy

Hail there, good folks. Accept my humble apologies for the lack of a new story for such a long time. There were quite a few of you that liked my ramblings. I guess this made my muse jealous and she flew away, shouting something about Jamaica. I found her yesterday evening, she was hiding behind the couch, trembling and eating popcorn. It did not take me long to determine that the trembles were due to the generous amount of Jamaican rum she had consumed. Before passing into a much-needed hibernation, she promised me to help me write something today. So now, here she is, having a massive hangover but eager to cooperate. Right, dear? *shakes the whip meaningfully* That's a good girl.

Now then. In the morning we had a protein purification lab. Well, the lab is still going on but we are taking a one hour break. I am very amused by the subtle ways the university is trying to get rid of us students, thus supporting Terry Prattchet's hypothesis that the students are just a minor inconvenience when you are trying to run a university.

We were supposed to perform a protein separation technique called SDS-PAGE (Sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Impressive, is it not? The technique itself consists of putting two glass plates together and filling the interspace with a solution which is then left to polymerise, i.e. become a gel. To complicate things a bit, there is a comb-like device inserted into the liquid before it solidifies, so that wells can be formed. And here comes the insidious plot against us, dramatis personae in the comedy called higher education.

We were given two types of glass plates, one with interspace of one millimeter and one with 0.75 millimeters. However, we were oblivious to this fact (and put our trust in the lab assistants who were supposed to know what they were giving us). Since we took it for granted that there should be only one plate and one comb type, we continued happily with our preparations. We were supposed to insert the combs into the gel solution very carefully, so no air bubbles are trapped. If you have ever tried to insert a one millimeter comb into a 0.75 millimeter space than you would know that it is necessary to use force. Combining strength and force, you crouch down so you level your face with the device you are trying to prepare and switch on your hand-eye coordination.

So what, you ask. Well, the "so what" part comes here. Acrylamide is toxic. So toxic we have to use special gloves and work on special ventilated benches. Fully aware of this fact, I tried to force the comb between the glasses without trapping those infernal bubbles. And then it happened.. the comb went all the way in, cracked one of the glasses (fortunately it did not break) and splashed all the surplus acrylamide-containing solution straight into my face. Strike one for the plotters. Huzzah! Luckily there was a sink nearby so I was able to wash my face without sustaining serious damage.

Now I have to go back to that place and conclude my experiment. I am entering the dark jungle of the immunology experiments. Wish me luck!