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As some of you might remember, I have trouble with solvents. So of course I am working in a lab where all we do is to mess with solvents. The procedure so far is thus:
1. Clean all the glassware. However, this is an anhydrous process, so washing with water is a Bad Idea since then we introduce water to the system. Instead, we wash with . . . chloroform.
2. Open containers of lipids A, B, and C. A has a positive charge, B is neutral, and C is PEGylated. (PEGylating something is the non-biotoxic equivalent of putting Teflon on a pan: nothing sticks to the PEG.) Because these are lipids, they do not dissolve in water. Thus, they are dissolved in the carcinogenic solvent of choice: chloroform.
3. Dilute lipids A and B. It's basically a serial dilution, except the dilution is not with water, but with . . . chloroform! We call these A' and B',
4. Mix certain amounts of A', B', and C in a tiny little vial.
6. Hold the vial under nitrogen flow to evaporate the chloroform, leaving lipid membrane behind.
7. Leave the membranes in a desiccator overnight to keep them water-free.
And I keep having to stop myself from yelling at the person showing me how to do this that the sash on the fume hood is supposed to be kept down as far as possible. If it is open, the fume hood is protecting you from exactly nothing, and giving you cancer to boot. Fun stuff, right? Right?
. . . But at least I didn't knock myself out with solvent this time. That's something.
1. Clean all the glassware. However, this is an anhydrous process, so washing with water is a Bad Idea since then we introduce water to the system. Instead, we wash with . . . chloroform.
2. Open containers of lipids A, B, and C. A has a positive charge, B is neutral, and C is PEGylated. (PEGylating something is the non-biotoxic equivalent of putting Teflon on a pan: nothing sticks to the PEG.) Because these are lipids, they do not dissolve in water. Thus, they are dissolved in the carcinogenic solvent of choice: chloroform.
3. Dilute lipids A and B. It's basically a serial dilution, except the dilution is not with water, but with . . . chloroform! We call these A' and B',
4. Mix certain amounts of A', B', and C in a tiny little vial.
6. Hold the vial under nitrogen flow to evaporate the chloroform, leaving lipid membrane behind.
7. Leave the membranes in a desiccator overnight to keep them water-free.
And I keep having to stop myself from yelling at the person showing me how to do this that the sash on the fume hood is supposed to be kept down as far as possible. If it is open, the fume hood is protecting you from exactly nothing, and giving you cancer to boot. Fun stuff, right? Right?
. . . But at least I didn't knock myself out with solvent this time. That's something.
