I had the sequencing data returned to me and it showed that both of my mutations were successfully implemented! This was a major success for my project. This meant I could move on from the molecular side of the project onto cell culturing and then onto data collection.
Now that the Molecular proportion of the project was over, it was now time to learn different cell culturing techniques. I first learnt how to passage and split cells. These processes are done in order to maintain the cells in the exponential growth phase. If the cells are left to grow for too long, space and nutrients become sparse and the cells begin to die. It is important to be careful of the passage number. If this becomes too high the cells health can be compromised.
During this week several passages were done on standard HeLa cell lines and and also HeLa cells lines stabely expressing Wild-Type Cx32. This ensured that the cell lines were prepared for data collection next week.
This week was a great learning experience as i gained valuable knowledge in cell culture. This was essential as cell culture has to be undertaken in sterile ventilated hoods. An example set up can be seen below;
Sourced from: https://www.thermofisher.com/uk/en/home/references/gibco-cell-culture-basics/introduction-to-cell-culture.html
This requires adjustment to ensure all protocols are undertaken in a sterile manner. This experience is necessary, however, as sterile practices need to be maintained in cell culture to ensure that contamination is avoided.
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