My Wife - The Scientist

Last weekend I got to spend time with Tara in her lab at school. In case you didn't know, near the top of the list of things my wife excels at is biomedical research. She is currently in a PhD program at the Ontario Veterinary College.

A biomedical research lab is a lot less like a movie research lab then you might think. There are no bunsen burners running, no multi-coloured liquids in beakers giving off dense fumes, no spiral tubing moving liquids from one flask to another and no hunched-back assistants. In fact, the lab looks a lot like the labs on CSI. Without the glass walls or dim lights, or instant answers.

I was there to "help" Tara with her research. Since I really don't know my way around a lab, I was given the roles of washer of instruments, labeler of labels, disposer of old experiments, fetcher of things, and official research photographer. I also got to autoclave things (or more honestly I put the instruments in the autoclave packets and watched Tara turn the machine on). Nonetheless it was a fun time where I got to spend time with Tara in her element. And I also got to meet her summer student Jess who is helping out Tara (and by helping I mean real helping, not Richard "helping").

If you are curious, Tara is doing research surrounding interleukins and corneal heath (the cornea is the clear part of the eye). Tara hopes to determine what the roles specific interleukins play in the maintenance of corneal clarity. The results of her research may provide insight into how to treat or prevent eye disease in animals and people.

The only thing I understand about interleukins is that they are proteins (molecules) that are involved in sending messages from between cells. If you want to know more, you'll need to ask Tara; she can talk for a long time about her research.

There are a few more photos that Tara said I could post, but I need to give you fair warning. Tara is doing ocular research. That's research on eyes. Some of these photos might make your tummy turn or at least look at Tara a little differently next time you see her.

If you think you can handle it, click the link below. If not, here is a nice blog you can read to wash your mind of the imagined images floating around in it...

Show me the gross photos

The corneas of the eyes need to be removed in order to harvest the cells. Once the cells are harvested and are growing on their own, the search for specific interleukins can begin.

The first step in removing the cornea is to make a small incision at the edge of the sclera.

The second step is to snip around the cornea (making a corneal button - that's actually the term for it).

The third step is to remove the button and place it in the well plate (a 6 cell well plate is shown above). The rest of the steps are complicated and hard to photograph, but basically the cells from the button get covered in growth media and are popped into an incubator. Hopefully in a few days there are lots and lots of cells to experiment on.