A “Normal” Day in the Lab

I guess there really is no normal day in a research lab. It varies from the field you work in, whether it be science, education, engineering, philosophy, literature, or any other. The lab setting is determined by the type of research one is working on. For example, it can involve computational analysis, “wet-lab” benchwork, human sample collection, and so forth. But let me tell you a little about what the length of my “regular” days in the lab have been like. ​​

It is not really like the movies or television series we watch.

Sometimes we wear lab coats and goggles, and sometimes we don't. We don't induce a chemical reaction where two chemicals are added and a fume or explosion is produced. No. But, I mean, it can happen.

We follow a lot of protocols, that is, a directed procedure - think about following a recipe when baking/cooking. So let’s say we wanna grow a bacteria - or bake a cake. A bacteria that is relevant to human diseases, such as Salmonella, or my favorite almond cake. The lab contains samples of these bacteria in aliquots, already frozen in a -80 °C (-112 °F) freezer. We take a swab of this bacteria and inoculate it, aka “grow” it onto some media. This media is basically providing the bacteria all the nutritional value it requires, like proteins and sugars, which we all love and crave. We place this bacteria in an incubator set to a certain temperature that it will certainly thrive in, such as 37 °C - setting our oven to 350 °F. This step is important because if not, the bacteria will likely not grow, similar to us in an odd tempered environment where we just do not like it and do not grow as individuals -haha. 

We have to grow these bacteria in order to study it. Once we have little pelleted particles (bacterial cell colonies) on our agar petri dish, aka where we plated the bacteria in the solid media, then we are ready for further experimental analysis. Perhaps we can extract some DNA from this bacteria and observe its genome (all the genes that are responsible for making up the entire bacteria), just to name an example of the endless possibilities.

But on the general side of things, my day in the lab starts at around 9:00 am and goes through to about 5 pm, more and probably not less, depending on the work I need to complete that day, somewhat relative. I have some meetings with my fellow colleagues, my boss aka the head of the lab (PI = principal investigator). I would probably go on about 2 coffee breaks a day, maybe a small walk to the bathroom or through the hospital, call my sister, mom dad, etc. 

It is all a mood. ​

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By Shekina Gonzalez-Ferrer ​
A Scientist and Hobbyist Baker