Sea Urchin in The Storm

This week was all about bioassays. It all revolved around sea urchins. The plan was to go pick sea urchins by the beach. Then the tide got high and the clouds rolled in to make way for the storm. Unfortunately duty still called …”ahh the greatness of field work…” and so we went in the water to get the sea urchins and take them into the lab. In the lab we performed a bioassay taking advantage of the urchins external fertilization and tested out plant extracts for antimitotic activity.

On a lighter note this weekend we decided to roam around the Dominican Republic and visit the capital city of Santo Domingo. We visited the colonial areas and toured around many of the historical sites. This week I will be working on putting all my results together in a paper and a presentation. Let’s see how this turns out !!!

Bioassays, Brine Shrimp, and… Spain!

So this week was a pretty busy week. Since Monday we have been going in and out of the lab repeating procedures over and over again. We have been putting the extracts from our plants to the test and this week we focused on six microbes. In addition, we have been using the extracts against a selected brine shrimp population raised in the lab. The point was to see if the extracts could terminate a good portion of the shrimps. We had to count those tiny little shrimps using a microscope before and after putting the extracts. The time to present our data is near so we all have been busy researching article to write our report. Last but not least watching the world cup finals in the hotel lobby was quite interesting. By the TV area in the lobby was a lounge filled with Dutchmen and Dutchwomen disguised in bright orange clothing and wigs in support of their country. Of course when Spain scored the goal that room got really quiet and was soon emptied out. My friends were quite happy especially the new guy who works at the foundation who happens to be from Spain.

The week when it all really begins...

This week was when serious lab work began. Our days are now brought down to strictly working in the lab. In the month of July the heat is much more unbearable and no one wants to be out there. The time has come for us to pick the plants from which we will take out extracts to be used against certain microorganisms. Thankfully a few of my plants have shown growth inhibition. A part of the program is to make a presentation and a report so it’s good to have something to work with. Good News! My roomie is coming back tomorrow and she is feeling much better! Plus we have tomorrow off. Yay!