Day 17

Today I took samples of my cotton plants. They weren’t very big at all, but we didn’t have time to let them grow a few more days. Instead of 10 samples for ELISA testing, I only have three. Each sample for this test has to be .5g. It took three seedlings to equal this amount. Since ELISA is easier than PCR, Tina decided it would be best to have less ELISA samples. Before I could weigh the samples, I had to wash each seedling and cut off the stem because only the leaves can be used. Then, I labeled and wrapped each sample and put them over dry ice. I took 10 samples for PCR testing. These samples did not have to be weighed, and it took two seedlings per sample. I also washed these, but the stems could be used. I wrapped them in tin foil and also put them over dry ice. Then, I took one sample for each sample of the wild type cotton and did the same thing. A graduate student named Baria told me how to do everything, but let me do it all since it is my experiment. The samples have to be stored for two days at an incredibly low temperature before I can test them, so Wednesday I will begin ELISA testing.
This took me up until lunch. For lunch I had something halfway normal: sweet and sour pork with cucumbers in it. I was so happy because it actually tasted like what I would order at a restaurant in the States. After lunch I came back to my dorm for the usual rest and read like I usually do. I am much farther in my reading book than I had thought I would be. I am reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and it is over 1,000 pages. I am already halfway done, and I didn’t start until I got here. It’s a wonder what two hours a day can do. Plus it’s really good too. I helped Ibraham in the lab after lunch. He is here getting his PhD from Egypt. He has two kids and a wife at home, so he is anxious to graduate. His major is weed science. His experiment is about herbicide resistance in wild oat. He brought a lot of samples from Egypt, and he is going to compare it to wild oat in China and maybe in the United States. He says it is a big problem all over because some strains have developed herbicide resistance. He is basically growing weeds, spraying different herbicides on them, and figuring out the mortality rate. Then, he will try to isolate the gene that causes resistance, so an effective herbicide can be made. He says it is a really easy yet beneficial experiment to do for his PhD because there aren’t many papers about it, and one of the requirements for a PhD is to publish an original paper. I helped him to take the seeds out of their shell. The shells are really hard and small. He has billions of seeds (no joke). We only had to do a very small part of it. After awhile of doing it, I started getting really itchy on my arms and neck, so Ibraham informed me that wild oat causes irritation in some people. He thought I knew that since it is a problem in the US, but I had never even heard of it before. I just washed up and tried not to touch myself. He also told me that his internet hasn’t been working right either, so now I think it is the building or college that is having problems. He also mentioned the fact that our building (turns out we are in the same one) has washing machines in the floor above me! I have been doing my laundry in the sink for two weeks now for no reason. Now I am going to let it all pile it up and do it all one night rather than doing it every night. I knew this was going to happen. I just thought it would be my last day or something. At least now I have six weeks to use it. Better now than never. Professor Li came to the lab, and we discussed my project. I am going to be doing transgenic plant evaluations, but he doesn’t want me to start until I am more familiar with the lab and its procedures. He said he would get me information about it soon, so I can begin to research it. Then, we went to supper, and I came back to my dorm. I am working on uploading more pictures, so everyone can see the Forbidden City and my project so far.