<center>![_20171214_150520.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf3DnKf5H2p7LRnKU48BaxBQ8dRk3QF8kQnb7XSAQN9m6/_20171214_150520.JPG)</center>


What have I been doing this week that kept me so incredibly busy?

Typical university stuff I suppose. Another lab practical, although this one was a bit more intense than the others (I didn't believe that's possible!).

The goal of this lab practical was to teach us the [patch clamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_clamp) technique, which is used to observe ionic current in living cells.

I can almost hear some of you thinking "what the fuck is that supposed to mean? And why would anyone want to do that? Biologists are damn weird". And yes, I agree, biologists are weird people. But the patch clamp technique has an actual use.

Cells aren't closed systems. They stand in constant contact with their surrounding cells. Several of these communication methods work with channels inside the cell membrane, which let ions pass through. That causes all sorts of things, explaining all of them in detail would take ages and probably bore most of you. Instead, I'll just say that we _really_ want to know what's going on in there!

To use the technique, I first needed some living cells, preferably neurons. Acquiring those was not very pleasant, as they came from the [olfactory bulb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_bulb) of the mouse you see above. Of course, I needed to kill the mouse. Awful way to start the day.<sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub>@suesa</sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub>

After spending some time taking everything apart and doing some cleanup, I was able to isolate the olfactory bulb.

<center>![_20171214_111459.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZaNvKNZCWHaAri8XtFM3e97J47jjXWp8ped5cRex2vh6/_20171214_111459.JPG)</center>

With the razor blade, you can see at the top of the picture, I cut several thin slices. It was important that everything was really, _really_ cold all the time so the cells wouldn't die off.

<center>![_20171214_150602.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeZFAxLJQL559fSDxs5Cjq5d6861u25jgHDcJaEvXUf1W/_20171214_150602.JPG)</center>

Here's a close-up of one of the slices, photographed through the lense of a microscope:

<center>![_20171214_151944.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdCmYxCekWVLsyDpCpS8hyqASEANjVn49hZ7WfdkX5oA9/_20171214_151944.JPG)</center>

It's not just the olfactory bulb, I also got a good portion of the brain in there.

The slice was then placed under a special microscope which has a constant influx of a "nutritional solution" to keep the cells alive. There are also two electrodes and a tiny, tiny glass pipette.

<center>![_20171214_150239.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVfmSux9qGFdopqCzN6ya2oMQV1THRD1xiQsdMQ3wFumD/_20171214_150239.JPG)</center>

The pipette is actually self-made! We have thin glass pipes that are put into machine with a heating spiral. The glass is then heated to about 60°C. At the bottom of the pipe is a weight. When the glass reaches a certain temperature, the weight pulls the lower part to the bottom which stretches the glass until it seperates. What's left are two shorter pipes with very thin tips.

<center>![_20171214_150500.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWyb384PFfECPhMttCP7JoBxpgH7scWpdQTVVCFLnZdfe/_20171214_150500.JPG)</center>
<center>![_20171214_150446.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmR4qUfJzLGRzFMbLADfcgrtMsUYwD1dRV91W474mEWPcd/_20171214_150446.JPG)</center>
<center>![_20171214_150430.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPFrAujt5s7hyvLnRbBwSRABUJsYZ6wudCr4swUdf6cPR/_20171214_150430.JPG)</center>

Fancy, isn't it. It's actually funny how much "self-made" and "really fucking expensive" clashes in the lab all the time. In one room, we have a microscope that cost several thousand euros. And in the other room, I've been working with this setup:

<center>![_20171214_150341.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYL3hq1PQZR2DiQVsBGoamiCR7GPRWunExZneFbJVZgpz/_20171214_150341.JPG)</center>

I'm sure several parts of this are older than me. Especially the VHS player. And look at this:

<center>![_20171214_150205.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXBZyv89RXGKgqFQgFLaFM6uWSSNJsw1vG7d3xXZEo8MS/_20171214_150205.JPG)</center>

This syringe (the blurry thing at the bottom) is attached to a tube that's connected to the glass pipette. Its purpose is to supply a certain pressure so it's easier to manouver the pipette through the tissue.

So you put some liquid into the pipette (should be a mix that's ok for the cell because it's going to be pumped *into* the cell), attach the pipette to the microscope, lower it into the tissue and closely watch the TV as everything is projected onto it. Then you press the pipette against a single cell, suck it in slightly and open it by creating a small vacuum. If you didn't fail (oh how many times I failed and destroyed the cell), you have now control over the voltage of the cell's membrane and can measure fun stuff.

Block channels! Shock the cell! Add poison!

All fun until you do it for 4 hours straight. 3 days in a row. 

The scientist's life I guess!

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*Pictures were all taken by me*

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Today’s *Suesa’s favorite* is: @justtryme90

He's one of the steemSTEM founders and a guy who greatly cares about Steemit, especially the science community. He pours his heart and soul into steemSTEM and *still* manages to write great posts. Do you want to know if you should replace [olive oil with canola oil](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@justtryme90/canola-oil-as-a-replacement-for-olive-oil-in-cooking-a-foray-into-alzheimers)? Or are you interested in [astronauts](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@justtryme90/what-happens-to-an-astronauts-body-temperature-during-a-long-space-flight)? [How safe are e-cigarettes](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@justtryme90/a-small-study-on-the-health-effects-of-electronic-cigarettes)? Read some great science articles and support one of the most awesome Steemit users!

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<center>![SteemStem](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmbm45GoXkP4CUEPgB7VA1YyfRXgs2RXYKSRvsQu6WT2i7/test1.gif)</center>

<center><sub>Monster GIF was made for me by @saywha and @atopy</sub></center>