So the beginning of the penultimate week saw me move to another lab where I was testing the reproducibility of particular assays results when using RT-qPCR. I had to design the experiments myself so chosing which gene to look at , how many repeats to do, the concentration of the cDNA ect. I decided to make 4 samples containing the same concentration of cDNA and same volumes of master mix (so theorecically the results should be the same (well very similar)). The first plate I done the results were OK but there was a lot of variation in the individual mixes and between the mixes than we first expected, so I repeated the experiment and the results were very good with both the repeats of the samples and the samples generating very similar results.
I was then given a large volume of data to analyse by doing statistical tests and then plotting them on graphs to show the variation which can occur when using a large number of samples. It was quite interesting work as it showed the difference in expression which can occur between samples.
Later on in the week I went back to the lab I was in the first 2 weeks (which seems like a year ago now!) we were comparing a new technology to an existing one, the new one having a much higher throughput and having much lower pipetting steps making better in almost every way! I was so overwhelmed by the data when it came in I thought I might drown in it! There was over 2300 rows of data that needed to be analysed for each chip of which there was 5!! Due to the layout of the sheet it was pretty difficult to find an efficient way to analyse it without just using copy + paste on every data point. But I got through the most of it and created a template sheet so the data from the other chips could just be pasted in so it was eventually graphed and there is only a small amount more to be done, which fortunately can be saved for next week!
On the social front it was quite a sad week as a lot of the other interns are either leaving or going home for 2 weeks so I will not see them when they return. We had a good number of leaving BBQs and volleyball games but I had made some good friends over the last 7 weeks and it will be sad to see them leave, there are 2 who are studying in St. Andrews next year, but hopefully I will be able to see the others again. So Basel will be quiet in my final week but certainly not less interesting.