Today we're going to try something new...an on location post. What the hell does that mean you ask? It means I'm in my lab at 8:45 at night and I'm going to finally describe to all you loyal fans what it is I actually do in here...

In the good ol GBSF (Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility) I do research in the Biomedical Engineering Department with Dr. JK Leach. In his lab we do tissue engineering - specifically bone and vascular engineering using stem cells. Sounds pretty cool right? Well it is!

So my "summer project" (I use qutoes because this somehow turned into a "week project") involves working on the finding the optimal environment to be used for inducing the stem cells to differentiate (change) towards bone cells in hopes of being used in implants. So, I create 2D films out of a polymer and change the properties of the films to see which better suits the cells. Once the proper experiments have been done with the 2D films, the data collected will be compared to the data from the 3D scaffolds to see which one would be better fit for the cells. Obviously, it's goign to be the 3D scaffolds...but whatever.


Sound boring? Well its not! Think about it like this...ever break a bone? Well I have. And let me tell you, that was a miserable miserable couple of months. If things work out properly in this field, we could potentially heal broken bones in a matter of weeks instead of a matter of months. I don't know about you, but that seems like a Very Good Thing to me.

Why am in my lab so late? Besides the fact that I'ma geek (which I've come terms with mind you), it's like I said - my "summer project" has turned into a "week project." The grad student that I'm working with (an MD/PhD student that's 21...makes me feel like a failure) told me this morning that it was time to get going with the cells and such.



Thus, I've got to get all my films ready in a week so I can add the cells to them once they're done growing. To make the films, I have to make microspheres (which takes 4 hours a batch) within 2 days. Then I have to take the time to do the modifications to the film which is a week's process. Something tells me it's going to be a loooooong week with no sleep...


The things I do as a scientist...

Track of the Day: Kanye West - Spaceship