27 things you should pay attention to in the laboratory
Always remember to develop good habits in the laboratory and to conduct experiments conscientiously and steadily. Only by conducting more experiments can people deepen their understanding of this knowledge and improve their ability to solve practical problems.
- Refer to this article. Think twice before the experiment, don’t rush to do it, understand the objectives of the experiment, design the experiment plan, run the entire experiment process in your head, try to succeed once, pay attention to experimental details, and make every effort to do well.
- Do a pilot experiment in advance for a more complex one. Check each step to indicate completion, and record the step at the same time. At the end of the stage, go back and check for any errors.
- Don’t think about other things when doing experiments, and don’t do experiments when you think about other things;
- Discuss your experiments with other senior lab members. Many things are often inspired by the discussion. This is almost the fastest way to improve.
- Pay attention to the safety of others, yourself, and the laboratory.
- Maintain good interpersonal relationships with other lab members;
- Don’t use other people’s reagents without receiving permission.
- Minimize distractions that may cause errors during experiments, such as answering phone calls or texting while pipetting.
- A good memory is not as good as a bad pen. At the end of each experiment, make a record in time and don’t delay.
- Try to finish your experiments on the same day if possible, and do not procrastinate.
- It is best to prepare the reagents yourself and keep the reagents you use separately, record the batch numbers, etc. The first time you prepare reagents to share with others, you need to perform a quality inspection and indicate the time and who prepared them.
- Mix it well before adding the reagent to avoid a concentration gradient after prolonged storage.
- Everything must be marked with the date, name, concentration, etc., immediately.
- Put away reagents when you finish using them.
- Be sure to mark the microcentrifuge tubes and write the date. You can add a piece of label paper for important things. Repeated freezing and thawing in the refrigerator will make the handwriting blurred. You can use scotch tape to stick the outside of the word at the same time. There should be a detailed record of the situation in the logbook.
- Wear gloves when you touch the source of pollution, take them off when you leave, don’t run around with gloves on, and absolutely avoid cross-contamination.
- Do not hold glassware with wet hands to avoid slipping off.
- Dispose of trash in time and tidy up the bench, etc., arrange time reasonably to improve the efficiency of the experiment, and be good at making time differences, for example: you can tidy up the bench during centrifugation.
- Remove the pipette tip immediately after aspirating, so as not to pick up another reagent when busy.
- After the pipette is used up, it should be returned to the largest measurement position to prevent the spring from losing its elasticity over time.
- When using a pipette, be sure to aspirate gently, especially with a large-range pipette, so as not to suck into the pipette, which will easily contaminate the pipette and future experiments.
- After using glassware, clean them in time, dry them over the sink, and transfer them to designated cabinets or shelves.
- Before leaving or entering the laboratory, check whether the water and electricity are off.
- After finishing the experiment, clean up the experiment bench, return the chemicals/reagents, and return the instruments.
- Remember to turn off the water bath, heat block, and other electrical appliances when you finish the experiment each time.
- Check that freezer doors are closed and locked with the plastic straps.
- Finally, after the experiment, wash your hands and maintain good hygiene.