Emmy Wang, Entry #2, More Preparations

I'm now beginning my third week here at the lab. I've been continuing with the staining but instead of just cutting of the antenna and inserting the dye crystals through there I now cut open the head of the moth and apply the dye directly to the brain. Such a procedure has proven to be quite challenging, especially since the brain is hard to distinguish from the other components of the head and specific regions of the brain are even more difficult to discern. I'm using two different colored dyes on the two antennal lobes which respond to different wavelengths under the light microscope:

Since I will have access to the confocal microscope in August, for now I am trying to get as many preparations done as possible. The procedure is quite demanding since at every step I have to be careful not to destroy the very small brain. This is especially difficult when I am trying to move the brain from a glass bottle of ethanol onto the microscope slide with a toothpick.
Right now I am the only one in the lab working with the moths, so I am also responsible for insect care. This involves transporting the newly hatched moths into cylindrical containers. It is fine for the most part but if the moths are feeling especially excited I'll stick them in the fridge for a bit to calm them down.

The three masters students that were in the lab have all had their exams and left, so right now the lab is quiet, but the new masters students will hopefully be here in August. Last Tuesday Dr. Berg invited us all over for dinner which was fun, especially to be able to talk to the lab members outside of the lab setting. I'm looking forward to the rest of this week and then taking a month off while my lab goes on holiday.