Week One

Hey guys! Farhana here. I’m currently attached to the Virology Lab. The Virology lab is divided into 3 main sections, namely the Serology, Isolation and Immunofluorescence(IF) section. Under the Isolation Section, there would be the Tissue Culture Lab and Virus Isolation Lab. At the moment, Li Jun and I are attached to the IF section. As the name implies, in the virology lab, we would be dealing with (duh!)….VIRUSES!!! Oooo… Sounds dangerous rite? Haha… Anyways, in the Virology Lab, we would be involved in the isolation, growth and testing for viruses such as Herpes Simplex Virus(HSV) and etc.

On the first day of SIP, we were given a briefing on the rules and safety and also given a mini tour of the Labs and introduced to the staff there. The first two days, we didn’t really get to do much except read the manuals and observed some of the procedures in the Tissue Culture Lab because the IF med techs were busy. In the Tissue Culture Lab, they basically do the same things that we did in MCT practicals. We all already know that viruses need a living host to survive, right? Yes? *Nodding* So clever! So, anyway, the purpose of the Tissue Culture Lab is to grow and maintain the cell lines to support growth of the viruses. Yes, that would mean that the use of trypsin, and MEM media and cell lines such as Hela would be involved. Sounds familiar, right?

Anyway, the first week in the IF Lab has been quite fun actually. Haha… because the med techs there had aliquoted for us some extra patient specimens and let us try out some of the tests. The first test that we got to try is the Nasopharyngeal Aspirate(NPA) test. In this test, we first take a NPA specimen(Btw, the NPA specimen can be quite disgusting. Some are watery, some bloody, some greenish, some spilled, some are plain.... *puke*) and add saline buffer(PBSA), vortex and then centrifuge to wash it. The washing step is done twice to ensure that the mucus in NPA would break up and release the cells trapped in them. If the sample is bloody, cold distilled water is added to lyse the RBC and PBSA is then added to stop the lysing reaction. When the samples are ready, they can then be spotted onto the wells on the slides(like in picture below) and then fixed in acetone.


After fixation, we would then add monoclonal antibodies(eg anti-influenza Monoclonal Ab), incubate and wash and then add the conjugate, incubate and then wash and left to air dry. After drying, we can then mount the slides. And TADA!! We can then view the slides. Since we’re in an Immunofluorescence Lab and are doing an Immunofluorescence Assay, that would mean that we get to use the -----> Immunofluorescence microscope. Haha! I think the great thing about being attached to the IF lab is getting to use the IF microscope cause I think that the cells look really cute under the microscope. Haha… The positive cells are stained apple-green while the negative ones are stained a dull-red colour. Actually, it’s quite hard to know whether the slides are really positive for the viruses cause debris and dirt may take up the dye and show up as a yellowish green fluorescence. Anyway, below is a picture of how a slide looks under the IF microscope.



Oh and while doing the slides for the patient's specimens, we also need to prepare and test a control slide containing the positive and negative control. This would help confirm the validity of the results of the patient's samples by ensuring that there isn't any cross-contamination between the different samples and the reagents.

I guess I’ll stop here for now. Will update ya’ll soon… Bubbye!