IMPORTANT LAB GUIDELINES
Always wear gloves! Humans are covered in bacteria – we don't want to contaminate our precious samples!
Keep a DETAILED & DATED lab notebook recording everything you do.
NEVER dip a pipette tip or anything else into a Stock Solution or Chemical Stock. You should always make smaller single or several use aliquots and only take directly from those.
Never turn any pipettor past its suggested range. Always hang pipettors when not in use. Pipettors are FINELY CALIBRATED instruments that must be handled with care to maintain calibration.
Always keep pipet tip boxes CLOSED. We use sterile pipet tips – very important to maintain sterility for our experiments. Leaving the lid open contaminates the tips.
Never leave something from the freezer out of the freezer for longer than necessary – ESPECIALLY ENZYMES & PROTEINS
Avoid freeze thaw cycles of enzymes, proteins, antibiotics and nucleic acids. Each cycle potentially degrades the sample – single use aliquots can eliminate these cycles!
Carefully LABEL all buffers, solutions, aliquots you prepare (include solution contents and details (pH, filtered, autoclaved, etc), your name, date)
Never leave dirty dishes in the sink – wash everything you use thoroughly and hang on the drying rack. Once dishes on the rack are dry – put them away.
CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF! This is a shared space with many people prepping and running a lot of different experiments that are easily ruined by contaminants. Everyone needs a clean bench to work.
Conversations in the lab should be about lab work ONLY. Distracting someone can ruin their experiment. Take other conversations into the hallway or save them for lunch.
Do NOT place things on the optical table or touch the equipment unless you are re aligning the trap under the supervision of the professor! The optical equipment took several months to align and is extremely EXPENSIVE and delicate. Any tiny nudge can cost us months of hard work and thousands of dollars, and can cause dangerous laser reflections.
Never bump or push down on the optical table. When lowering the condenser hold the optical table with your other hand slightly pulling up to counter the torque from lowering the condenser. Lower very slowly to avoid budging the microscope.
Wear laser safety goggles at all times when you are exposed to the trap unless you have been told that the laser is NOT on and you can remove them. The laser is an infrared laser so you can’t see it. Always assume it is on.
When working on the optical table, always keep your head above the light path of the laser (and of course wear your safety goggles).