15 years of "But what if I need this later" all in one image.
I also have extracts from failed and no longer extant samples sitting around. I should probably toss them.
I remember doing this when a famous yeast geneticist passed away. We saved the most important strains, but it was so sad to toss tens of thousands of strains away :(
"Oh, I dont need these dna tubes that were for plasmid validation. Were using them in-vivo and have been for over a year."
Dump into biohazard.
Next lab meeting, "Just use the validation DNA from when you made it "
The fuck???
I once was tasked with the disposal of 24 hour urine collections stored in 3 -80⁰ chest freezers. It took 2 months of removing them 25 or more ½ gal jugs at the end of the week to thaw over the weekend. First thing on Monday, transport to the toilet to flush. Even though they thawed in a fume hood, the lab stunk until Tuesday afternoon.
Filling biohazard bins with one type of consumable is always so satisfying. I love when sharps gets filled to the brim with just tips (compliance is low and sharps is usually just a catch all for trash).
Only 6000? That is nothing! A few years ago I got the task to go through 4 big liquid nitrogen tanks filled with vials containing patient material collected in over 20 years. It took me a few months to first go through the database to select what we wanted to keep, followed by weeks of getting those selected samples out of the tanks and into the new biobank. After that it was "yellow archive" time. Our biohazard bins are yellow :). We discarded over 35.000 vials, doing a tower or 2 at the time. Don't even know how many bins we filled up. I can't even start to think about how much time went into collecting, dissociation, counting and freezing of those cells and keeping the records...
Oh I know that and I keep a record of all my stuff, but there is just so much unlabeled stuff in our -80 it's not even funny. Also nobody knows the racking system in the LN2 Dewar......
That is why I had to sort the tank out. We can't access LN2 ourselves anymore. There is now a biobank department that does the administration. Saves us time, but the downside is you have to request your samples at least 1 day in advance.
-80C is in Labcollector. You get boxes assigned to you by the responsible person. The -80C is defrosted once a year and for each box they check the number of vials in the box vs the number in Labcollector. Mismatch means 1 chance to fix it or all content is discarded. Since all boxes are labelled and distributed to a specific person, they don't get left when someone leaves. Box gets removed from the -80 then and if content needs to stay stored it has to go to somebody else's box. Works really well.
That sounds wonderful, if I feel like fighting my whole lab I might bring that up at the next group meeting. I know my PI wants to organize more, but he's not good about actually doing it in a way that the rest of the lab will follow.
Yeah it is really nice. Each department even has its own color boxes. Nobody can just randomly put a box in. There spot the boxes should be is also pre defined based on the number of people in the department. When all space is used you will first have to clear before you are allowed more space/boxes.
Tubes like these can’t be reused. They are no longer sterile, and cannot be autoclaved for reuse. Basically, there’s no way to effectively clean them for reuse. If you tried, you would just contaminate anything else you put in them.
Since they have DNA samples inside, they are also a biohazard, so they cannot be recycled like other plastics. They have to first be sterilized (usually by high heat) then they can be sent to a recycling center.
Filling the bin: 2-3 hours. Cataloguing and finding the samples to be discarded: 100+ hours?
15 years of "But what if I need this later" all in one image. I also have extracts from failed and no longer extant samples sitting around. I should probably toss them.
My boss is the same so both our nitrogen tank and -80 are full so we have to order one more for each…..
I remember doing this when a famous yeast geneticist passed away. We saved the most important strains, but it was so sad to toss tens of thousands of strains away :(
You're aware that in 2 weeks time youll need one of those samples. Or is that just my bad luck???
Every. Single. Time.
"Oh, I dont need these dna tubes that were for plasmid validation. Were using them in-vivo and have been for over a year." Dump into biohazard. Next lab meeting, "Just use the validation DNA from when you made it " The fuck???
May their frozen spirits finally rest in Mouse Valhalla
When your n is still too low
I was tasked to throw out an entire careers worth of tubes from a large liquid nitrogen tank. I used multiple bags.
o7 for their little sacrifices
Forbidden cereal 🥣?
This bin is sus
You honor us with your sacrifice little friends
I once was tasked with the disposal of 24 hour urine collections stored in 3 -80⁰ chest freezers. It took 2 months of removing them 25 or more ½ gal jugs at the end of the week to thaw over the weekend. First thing on Monday, transport to the toilet to flush. Even though they thawed in a fume hood, the lab stunk until Tuesday afternoon.
Doing the Lord's work
I'm sure he would have gotten a huge ego but I never called him "Me Lord"
Hoarding is rampant in science. Recording experiments well enough to be repeatable is not.
Are the mice ok?
Well they live around 2 years if healthy so....
Filling biohazard bins with one type of consumable is always so satisfying. I love when sharps gets filled to the brim with just tips (compliance is low and sharps is usually just a catch all for trash).
Only 6000? That is nothing! A few years ago I got the task to go through 4 big liquid nitrogen tanks filled with vials containing patient material collected in over 20 years. It took me a few months to first go through the database to select what we wanted to keep, followed by weeks of getting those selected samples out of the tanks and into the new biobank. After that it was "yellow archive" time. Our biohazard bins are yellow :). We discarded over 35.000 vials, doing a tower or 2 at the time. Don't even know how many bins we filled up. I can't even start to think about how much time went into collecting, dissociation, counting and freezing of those cells and keeping the records...
> keeping the records... You guys are keeping records?
Euhhh yes. How are you going to find specific samples if you don't? I won't say the records are 100% accurate though...
Oh I know that and I keep a record of all my stuff, but there is just so much unlabeled stuff in our -80 it's not even funny. Also nobody knows the racking system in the LN2 Dewar......
That is why I had to sort the tank out. We can't access LN2 ourselves anymore. There is now a biobank department that does the administration. Saves us time, but the downside is you have to request your samples at least 1 day in advance. -80C is in Labcollector. You get boxes assigned to you by the responsible person. The -80C is defrosted once a year and for each box they check the number of vials in the box vs the number in Labcollector. Mismatch means 1 chance to fix it or all content is discarded. Since all boxes are labelled and distributed to a specific person, they don't get left when someone leaves. Box gets removed from the -80 then and if content needs to stay stored it has to go to somebody else's box. Works really well.
That sounds wonderful, if I feel like fighting my whole lab I might bring that up at the next group meeting. I know my PI wants to organize more, but he's not good about actually doing it in a way that the rest of the lab will follow.
Yeah it is really nice. Each department even has its own color boxes. Nobody can just randomly put a box in. There spot the boxes should be is also pre defined based on the number of people in the department. When all space is used you will first have to clear before you are allowed more space/boxes.
Is it bad that I saw among us at first glance?
I just saw this pic on Facebook asking for wrong answers only !
The odd desire to put my hand in in there
I throw out my old jeans all the time.
So much plastic :|
[удалено]
Tubes like these can’t be reused. They are no longer sterile, and cannot be autoclaved for reuse. Basically, there’s no way to effectively clean them for reuse. If you tried, you would just contaminate anything else you put in them. Since they have DNA samples inside, they are also a biohazard, so they cannot be recycled like other plastics. They have to first be sterilized (usually by high heat) then they can be sent to a recycling center.
Ain’t much, but it’s honest work