Week 5 and Earlier Sharings

Good Morning, dear friends!

Okay, it's my turn to update all of you about my work at.. *ehem* somewhere in the west of Singapore. hehe..

TOPIC: Student Internship Programme

The Company

The company that I'm attached to is a bioinstrumentation start-up company. Just a few months old, it's a spin-off from one of Singapore's research institutes.

What is 'Bioinstrumentation'?

Well, from my understanding, it means instruments, or equipments, that are invented/developed to improve the works in the biology field, or more generally, in the laboratory.

So, my company has developed a technology that miniaturises cell culture and cell-based assays, both of which use smaller samples and take shorter time. *I would loVe to share with you how exactly this technology works, but I am not sure which information can be released.. and I haven't asked my supervisor. Hmm.. So, stay tuned, aite!*

I'm sure some of you know where my workplace is. And, I'd like to share with you something that I found interesting (sorry for the lack of a better word!):

Since many research institutes/pharmaceutical companies are situated here, the management has built a 'shared facilities', located in the basement. The first time I stepped into the area, the first thought that came to mind was, "Waaahh~ So clean, like hospital!" The floor's practically shiny, I tell you. Haha.. Okay, so, what are the services you can find there?

This place has many sections: supply center, media preparation (known as MediaPrep), washing and autoclaving service, confocal microscopy, flow cytometry (thanks, QJ, for enlighting us with the information *big smile!!*) and high content screening.

I like the supply center very much! How it works is that I make my order online (what kind of order, you'd ask? Let me see.. You can get all sorts of labware and reagents here from labcoat to alcohol-resistant marker to bleach to pipettes to petri dish to tube rack to polymerases to buffer solutions... and the list goes on~), and depending on the arrival time, I will go down from my laboratory to collect the items. Seriously, this integrated facility is efficient and saves everybody's time.

okay, NEXT!

My Jobscope

I do admin work as well as Research and Development (R&D).

In Admin, I make payment vouchers and purchase orders, write cheques as well as calling and emailing suppliers to ask for quotations or request for services. I'm also learning to use MYOB 'Mind Your Own Business', an accounting software.

In R&D, so far, I culture cells in flasks (plus changing medium and passaging). GoOd thing that I had learnt Mammalian Cell and Technology! However, since it had been a year ago, it took me some time (not to long, though!) to get the hang of it again.. cell culture technique, aseptic technique.. But now, yeah, I'm doing goOd =)

I also seed cells on the company's proprietary plates once the cells have reached 70%-80% confluence inside the culture flask. Haaa~ why seed cell on the plate? What's so special about this plate...? I'll tell you next time! What I can say for now is that the plate is FLAT and it's the size of the standard microscope slide. You'd think that the sample will slide off, right? right? Well, I'm going to let you imagine how cell seeding is done on a flat surface! *smile mischieviously*

Other than seeding, I also do aliquoting (of fluids, such as primary antibodies), clean CO₂ cylinderincubator and waterbath, store the labwares in the appropriate place, and help my colleague to key in inventory.

Since my company is very new, I observe how my colleagues work hard to improve on the product. Any problem(s) and complaint(s) from client(s), they will try their best to rectify and troubleshoot it. Additionally, some marketing stuff: like, you have to find distributors to market your product, locally and internationally, or you do 'demo' of your product to potential customers at medical/research institutes, companies and universities. Needless to say, there is a lot of work to be done if you are new and have a goOd product to offer the scientific community.

Oh! I've just remembered: My laboratory is small, slightly bigger than our tutorial room, so, there aren't separate rooms or partitioned sections for washing, preparation and cell-culturing. Boxes of newly-arrived items or equipments have to be stored or put aside to minimise obstruction in the room. Fortunately, the essential equipments for cell-culturing work (laminar flow hood, inverted microscope and CO₂ cylinder) are positioned near to each other.

Okay, I guess that is all I have for now. I would have liked to post protocols and other 'scientific knowledge', but I've yet to gain one or two that's worth sharing with all of you. Still searching.. and still learning.

^_^

Till we meet again,
Nor Liyana bte Noor Mohammad
0607927A
TG02 - Group 8