Biology

[annettegascoigne]

Hi,
Trying to come up with a good cheap way to get the students to practice pipetting for electrophoresis.
Any tips?
We thought to make up agar with the wells and maybe use food dye?
Thanks
Annette.

[Anna Z]

We use a laminated cards with little circle on it that we made up. We also use food dye with a little bit of Glycerol in it so it doesn't run all over the place with surface tension. You can have a few different cards with different volumes. We also have a lot of old well plates that we roll out and students use. Quick wash after and they are all good.

[bigmack]

I used to make up a small batch of dye for practicing . I can’t remember the exact mix , but the original dyes from Southern Biological had the recipe on them . IE , what % glycerol , water and the particular dye .

Made up some agar wells and would place them in a petrie dishes and cover with water . The students need to be able to fill the wells but not go too deep that they inject the well bottom .

Those dual action micro pipettes need a bit of practice .

[bigmack]

Found it .
viewtopic.php?p=41246#p41246

20% Gycerol
80% Water
Stir in a smidgen of Bromothymol Blue or Methyl Orange powder to colour .

[annettegascoigne]

Cheers guys thanks