First week of SIP

Andika Putra Anda Indera

0604612B

First week of SIP



The first day of SIP started off with a briefing regarding the procedure to clock in and out, which I will have to do everyday. Thereafter I proceeded to the conference room where my supervisors gave a briefing regarding the requirements and guidelines of in-house SIP. Basically I will start at 8.30am everyday and end at 5.45 on monday-thursday while friday ends at 5.15.



I found out during the briefing that 80% of my SIP will be doing my MP whereas 20% will be spent doing TSO. Apparently, that's only once a week thus I have plenty of time for my MP. Speaking of MP, after the briefing I went to have a meeting with Dr.Chang, who is my supervisor, to discuss my MP.



My MP is basically about an organism called Edwardsiella Tarda which causes Edwardsiellosis in fishes. Edwardsiellosis is a very important bacterial infection in fishes as it is one of the major problems in the aquafarming industry. Edwardsiellosis often leads to death of fishes with atleast a 50% mortality rate if the fishes are kept in tank. Hence, my MP is to assist Dr.Chang in trying to create a vaccine that is specific to Edwardsiella tarda.



My first task is to research more information regarding the organism and to find the aceE gene in Escherichia Coli, Salmonella enterica, Shigella Flexneri and Yersinia Enterocolita. Due to the fact that Edwardsiella Tarda gene has not been completely sequence, these four organisms might contain similar genes because they all belong to the enterobacteriaceae family.



In order to locate the gene, I will be using pubmed and search for the organism's respective aceE gene. Using a software called CLUSTERW, I am able to merge the aceE gene of the 4 organisms together. After the aceE gene is grouped together, I will use another software called BOXSHADE which helps me to highlight the similar genes between the 4 organisms.

On friday, I had a lab briefing conducted by Mr Lester. He showed us the various lab equipment in AS4. The first equipment is the centrifudge and microfudge. He explain the difference between a fixed angle and a swing bucket. Basically, fixed angle means the tube that will be placed in the centrifudge lies in a fixed angle. Swing bucket refers to the bucket being at a 180 degrees position while the centrifudge is spinning.

The next equipment he showed me was the autoclave. In AS4, the autoclave machine can only be used at 10am, 1pm and 4pm. Therefore, if there is a need for me to autoclave I will have to follow the schedule time. He explain the steps on how to use the autoclave.

Finally, he showed me the BSL2+ class laboratory. Basically, a BSL2+ is a laboratory that handles organisms that is able to infect humans. The lab is isolated from the corridor which means, the lab and corridor is separated by another room. The air pressure in the BSL2+ lab is lower than the room and corridor. This is to prevent bacteria from the lab to escape to the corridor as it travel from a region of high pressure to low pressure. Since the air pressure in the lab is lower, it remains in the lab. Another security function is that the BSL2+ lab cannot be accessed if the door to the corridor is open. This means that out of the 2 doors that is available in the room between the corridor and BSL2+ lab, one of the doors must be closed for the other to open.

In the BSL2+ lab, I was shown how to use the BSL cabinet and the functions and limitations of it. The direction of the airflow, ventilation and arrangement of reagents are explained by Mr Lester.