This past week I learned that you have to think fast to solve problems in the lab. While taking measurements (optical density, cell density, and fluorescens), we noticed that algae stock#1 was decreasing, meaning that the cells were dying. To solve this problem, we were forced to clean the stock by throwing 75% of the entire volume and add new media. Stock #2 is growing steady, and by Monday, we have high hopes that there is going to be enough cell density to begin our trials.
Here are pictures of my setup and of how algae looks under a hemocytometer.
