As some of you know, I am currently working on a gene gun for the Biosciences department. As of last week I had little to no idea what I was doing, but thanks to a close friend of mine, that changed this week. This friend is currently getting his PhD in biophysical chemistry and uses a gene gun on a regular basis!!! As an added bonus, theirs is "homemade" as well, and the design of was incredibly simple. A tank of helium gas was connected to a solenoid, which is controlled by a timer with a trigger. The solenoid is then attached to some brass fittings, which eventually connect to a filter holder that houses the inoculated tungsten dust. The filter holder is pointed inside of a container. This is where the science happens! Inside of this container, genes are shot into living organisms. To avoid experiencing a deafening noise, a vacuum is attached to the container which essentially sucks out the high psi shot of gas that is delivered into the container.
Part of this process is the preparation of a microcarrier. The microcarrier will betungsten dust that is carefully prepared with a plasmid. My friend Chris was also able to supply me with the protocol that his lab uses when preparing this dust. Now I wait for all of my ordered materials to show up, and we can get this show on the road!
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