• Question: how many experiments would you do on average a week ?

    Asked by georgina to Tatiana, Priya, Natt, Dwaine, Andy on 15 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by sweatypeppers.
    • Photo: Andrew Scott

      Andrew Scott answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      It varies. Most of my experiments are MRI scans. Sometimes I might do none, sometimes I might do 5. On average maybe 2. I also have other experiments, some that just use the computer, that we call simulations and other small things in a lab.

    • Photo: Priya Hari

      Priya Hari answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      People will probably define an experiment in different ways.
      For me an experiment starts when I start growing the cells.
      The cells usually take about 10 days after treatment to become senescent, so just growing and taking the cells can take about 2 weeks. After this I will want to look at what was going on in the cells by staining them with antibodies to look at what proteins they have under the microscope. Or, I might extract the RNA and protein from the cells to see what’s in there. This can take anything from days to weeks depending on what I want to know and often I will be doing 3-4 experiments at the same time.

    • Photo: Natt Day

      Natt Day answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      My experiments are very much a labour of love and will take on average 28-30 days for me to grow the cells in such a way that they mimic the lung (at something we call an Air-Liquid Interface). After this 30 day growth period I harvest samples from the cells and do more experiments on those samples. Those experiments include measuring the levels of Interferons via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), measuring the RNA levels of my targets of interest via polymerase chain reactions (PCR), measuring protein levels via western blotting and finding out where certain bits of the cell are localised via staining. On average I probably do 2-3 experiments per week– but the amount of data I get from that can vary massively.

    • Photo: Tatiana Trantidou

      Tatiana Trantidou answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      It’s not a standard number… Sometimes I could spend all week in the lab, doing experiments and another week I would just sit at my desk reading scientific texts. For my job, I need to first make my devices. If a single device counts as an experiment, then I make dozens of them per week. Then I need to test if they actually work in another lab with chemicals and/or cells. This includes another 4-5 experiments a week.

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