Fireworks and Fluorescence


It was a little difficult to be productive in lab this week because of Independence day. I mostly just expanded my cells to get ready for more organoid experiments, but I was also able to learn flow cytometry. Flow cytometry is a technique used to collect information about a sample of cells by recording fluorescence excitation, and is one that my lab in Ithaca is very familiar with. Still, it was nice to get the opportunity to use their machine and learn the alternate software. The pictures included show just how large the machine is and a few of us altering the fluorescence settings for the samples we prepared. In this case we were using flow cytometry to check for cell viability following infection by the Kaposi's Sarcoma virus in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells as wells as immortalized lymphatic endothelial cells. Today I plan to put both of these cells, uninfected, into organoids to see how they behave in our engineered 3D microenvironment.

On a fun note, the holiday in the city was spectacular. I was able to watch the Macy's fireworks display on the east river from an overpass on the water's edge. The views were incredible and the show was extensive. This was by far the most impressive firework display I have ever seen and the sound of the fireworks after it rebounded off of the skyscrapers behind me was something I will never forget.

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