Author Archives: abbyfahnestock

“What If…”

As I was talking to a few of my fellow researchers, one question seemed to pop up pretty consistently. This one question was: “What if we never get a phage?” This pretty much defines what we are all feeling now: confused and hopeless. Many of us are on our 6th-10th soil sample…its pretty discouraging. The hard part is, is that we can do nothing differently. We have to continue digging up soil and going through the same procedure. And we are all wondering, “What if I never get a phage…”

Nothing…

Well, I was right. Two days ago I predicted that I would be back digging up soil, and that is exactly what I did yesterday. I collected 3 more soil samples. It is amazing how quickly the process moves now. I remember preparing one soil sample on the first day of class, and it took me about 90 minutes. Yesterday it took me around 30 minutes to prepare all 3 soil samples. So, there have been little victories in the lab. If nothing else, I am getting accustomed to all of the lab equipment and procedures! The only discouraging thing is that I just have to keep repeating the same process until I get results…I cannot dramatically change my procedure or anything…I just have to work with what I have. But I have not given up hope yet; I sense that one of these new soil samples have phage!

False Alarm?

On Monday I was really excited because I had a possible phage! The thought of never collecting soil again was exciting! However, when I entered lab on Wednesday, and grabbed my plate, my hope was disappointed. I definitely had something lysogenic on my plate. Something ate away some of the bacteria. However, it was most likely not a phage. A phage would eat the bacteria completely, leaving clear spots on the plate. However, my plate had rings eaten away. In other words, it appears that there is a bacteria in my soil sample that is eating away – not a phage. However, I am not giving up hope yet. I refiltered all my possible plaques from Monday. I also picked the plaques again from this plate. I just want to make sure that it is definitely not a phage! So as of now, I have a 5% hope that it is maybe a phage…but I sense that next lab I will be back digging up more soil.

Glimmer of Hope

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Monday, September 23, 2013 could be my breakthrough day in the lab…or it could all be a fake. When I entered the lab I soon discovered that I had a possible plaque on my soil #3 arthrobacter sample! Though there is only a slim chance that it is actually phage, it is still exciting. One problem I am encountering though is contamination. On September 18, I prepared two plates. One used all three soil samples, with SMEG. My other plate consisted only of soil sample 3, with Arthrobacter. My SMEG plate was horribly contaminated. However, on this plate I put a control (plain phage buffer), and even that was contaminated. Therefore, that means that it was actually my phage buffer that was contaminated – which is not normal. Also, even with my Arthrobacter plate, there was contamination, but under the contamination there was possible plaque growth. I am excited to see my plates tomorrow. On Monday I picked the possible plaque – therefore, tomorrow will be the moment of truth as to whether or not it is actually a phage. On Monday I also re-spotted soil 1 and 2 with Arthrobacter. Therefore, I will see if any possible plaques arose on that!

Confusion

It is hard to believe that I have just finished the first three weeks of my freshman year of college. On top of all the change with a new state, new professors, new classes, new church, and new friends, I have also been thrown into a crazy research project! To be completely honest, I feel like a 6 year old in the lab. I have never used any of the equipment that we use daily (besides a flask:)). Therefore, I am overcome with confusion and awe. The work we are doing with phages, even if I am barely floating with regards to what exactly is going on, is so intriguing. I cannot wait to come to the place where I harvest a phage and begin to understand all of our lab equipment and am able to develop procedures on my own, instead of relying on a step-by-step manual! So as of now, I am a little confused with all the high-tech equipment and terminology, but thoroughly intrigued by our research!