Access to an incubator and bench space in Northern Virgina ?

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Simon Convey

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Nov 9, 2018, 6:44:03 PM11/9/18
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Dear all,
          Sadly, I don't have an incubator in my lab at home.  I need to do a plasmid maxiprep, extraction and purification from e-coli. Anyone know of any open access labs close to  washington DC ? Otherwise it' s "wait for an incubator to appear on ebay" ......

Many thanks,
Simon

Dakota Hamill

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Nov 9, 2018, 6:51:39 PM11/9/18
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Check the temperature behind your refrigerator/freezer radiator.  Usually pretty warm.  Put the plates in a sand-which baggy so they won't get desiccated or contaminated from blowing hot dusty air.  Otherwise get a big cooler, heat a gallon or 2 of water to 40C and dump it in.  Put the petri dishes on a pizza rack or something else to keep them out of the water.  Condensation inside the plates from excess moisture could be a problem there.  However should be a decent thermal mass and hold ~37C overnight at least. 

Get creative.  Don't let a 37C heat-box stop you from science! 

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Simon Convey

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Nov 10, 2018, 12:04:47 AM11/10/18
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Wow, I'll try that.  E-coli not so fussy then  !  ?

Thanks,
Simon.

Patrik D'haeseleer

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Nov 10, 2018, 3:53:05 AM11/10/18
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If you want to get fancy, you can buy a reptile heating pad with a thermostat for around $30. Put that inside a cooler and you've got yourself an incubator...

You could also use a second hand baby bottle warmer, available from your local thrift store for just a few bucks. Most yogurt makers tend to run a little too warm for E. coli, but this Vonshef Automatic Digital Yogurt Maker is one of the few that has adjustable temperature, and could easily be used as an incubator for a couple stacks of E. coli plates.

E.coli is happiest around 37C, but it will grow reasonably well anywhere between room temperature and 40C - shouldn't be too hard to rig something up...

Patrik

Nathan McCorkle

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Nov 10, 2018, 4:46:35 PM11/10/18
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37C is pretty much human body temperature... you could just add some
inner pockets to your jacket ;P
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Seth Donnelley

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Nov 10, 2018, 6:30:48 PM11/10/18
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Try styrofoam box and incandescent bulb

djwr...@gmail.com

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Nov 10, 2018, 7:43:45 PM11/10/18
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Room temp is fine, just grows a little slower 

On Nov 10, 2018, at 3:30 PM, Seth Donnelley <newbio...@gmail.com> wrote:

Try styrofoam box and incandescent bulb

On Sat, Nov 10, 2018, 4:46 PM Nathan McCorkle <nmz...@gmail.com wrote:
37C is pretty much human body temperature... you could just add some
inner pockets to your jacket ;Pstg

Seth Donnelley

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Nov 11, 2018, 12:28:12 PM11/11/18
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You could try BUGSS in Baltimore

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