DAY 7

After an eventful day 1 in the Bio materials department, we came back today again :) So, after our cells have been incubated for about a day, we took them out for staining and also oxidative stress testing.

 As we have prepared many small samples the day before, we also prepared solutions of different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide to subject it for oxidative stress test and to make it grow old, otherwise known as senescence. The young foreskin cells are able to undergo senescence as they still have the potential to grow older, yet the aged cells are unable to undergo senescence and are in a 'neither here nor there' state as they are unable to die unlike the younger cells. One interesting thing about cancer cells is that they do not age unlike our normal cells and this characteristic alongside with its evasion capabilities make it very difficult for us to tackle it. As Dr Lam's student carried out the repetitive process of injecting the hydrogen peroxide solution into the samples, growth factors are added. These growth factors originates from cow. We had a light hearted talking session with him, to learn more about material science and what are the various avenues we can pursue in the future

Biomaterials is a very unique type of material science, unlike the defense materials or sustainable energy materials where they can yield a final product, biomaterials is more about the basic scientific research. Futhermore, we cannot just imagine science and business to be in different spheres of life as they are often interrelated. Some business fields require people from scientific backgrounds to aid them and for research to be commercialize, there need to be a link with people from the business sector. This insightful food for thought given by our mentor kept us thinking, providing us a clearer understanding on what do we want to pursue in the future. He also mentioned about the course to become a PhD. Moreover, he mentioned about how research is an expensive industry. Equipment and consumables all require funding and these funding usually comes from the government. Furthermore, the research that are given more attention to are those that affects the country and the development .of the country. These research usually produce something that can be materialized and commercialized.

As we were rounding up our talk, Dr Lam's student was also nearly done with his work. He then placed the samples with hydrogen peroxide solution into the incubator as it will take time, so we can then see the results of the work tomorrow.

Then, we proceeded to another lab to conduct the senescence beta galactosidase staining. We first removed the growth media from the cells and rinsed them with PBS twice to ensure the growth medium is completely cleansed, then we added staining solution and allowed it to incubate at 37 degrees for another night so we will only view the results tomorrow as well.

We were taught about fixing solution. It is a kind of reagent that freeze the item in a state where it can be observed. The fixing solution can only freeze and prolong this effect for 10-15 minutes, beyond that will cause the solution to 'overfix'. The most interesting part is that the fixing solution actually kills the cell, yet it sustain the cell to a "frozen" state.

With that we completed our day and we are looking forward to day 3 :)

Fixed cells under the staining solution!