One of
the experiences I had during my internship was within the first month of
being at King’s where I got to participate in a hemoglobinopathy research that
Lewis Couchman in the Toxicology Unit. I was trained on how the research would
be done and the machinery that would be used to do the research. I was
privileged to team up with Lewis and Havisha a lot during the research process,
which worked out well because we all worked very well together. The
main goal we were trying to accomplish through this research was to identify
hemoglobin variants in patients blood and we did this through the use of a mass
spectrometer. Before we could put the samples into the mass spectrometer to be
analyzed the blood had to be broken up into peptides and be diluted. Havisha
and I worked together preparing the blood samples to be put into the mass
spectrometer. We started by punching out spots from patients blood cards and
placed the spots into little tubes. We later added water and an enzyme called
Trypsin to dilute the blood and break the hemoglobin proteins up into small
peptides. After waiting an hour, we extracted the diluted blood and put it into
a solvent that would stop the Trypsin from breaking down the protein, then we
diluted the blood one last time. Once the final dilution was made, we placed
all of the samples into the mass spectrometer so that it could read the masses
of each peptide determining if the peptide was a disease causing peptide or
not. Lewis taught us how to interpret the results of the graph that the mass
spectrometer was putting out.
The second experience I had at King’s was the use of the Sebia Capillary 2 in the Metabolic Lab. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has teamed up with Metabolic Lab at King’s to preform tests that detect heavy alcohol consumption. I worked with the metabolic team to preform these tests, I was trained on how the process of the test works and how to interpret the results the machine puts out. After a person has been caught for drunk driving, they get their license taken away for about a year and aren't able to get it back unless they pass a lab test saying they haven't had an excessive amount of alcohol in the past week or so. The DVLA sends blood samples to the Metabolic Lab at King's to have these tests done. Once the samples reach King's we do a Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT) test to detect any heavy alcohol consumption. To do the CDT test we had to put the samples into a centrifuge to separate the contents of the blood in the test tubes. Once the blood was separated into three parts, we poured some of the plasma into a smaller tube before putting the sample in the Sebia Capillary 2. The Sebia Capillary 2 would analyze the blood and give us a graph and a CDT value, which we would then send back to the DVLA. While carrying out these tests, I learned how to change out solutions and interpret the results that the Sebia Capillary 2 was putting out. Running tests and reading results is very helpful, but it is also very helpful to know how to keep up the maintenance of the machines. I was trained how to correct a problem with the Sebia Capillary 2 if an error report came through the computer, halting the tests going through. If a person doesn’t understand the maintenance, the machine is nearly useless until someone comes to fix it, which in the end can cut into a lot of the time the machine could be using to analyze blood and produce results.
The second experience I had at King’s was the use of the Sebia Capillary 2 in the Metabolic Lab. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has teamed up with Metabolic Lab at King’s to preform tests that detect heavy alcohol consumption. I worked with the metabolic team to preform these tests, I was trained on how the process of the test works and how to interpret the results the machine puts out. After a person has been caught for drunk driving, they get their license taken away for about a year and aren't able to get it back unless they pass a lab test saying they haven't had an excessive amount of alcohol in the past week or so. The DVLA sends blood samples to the Metabolic Lab at King's to have these tests done. Once the samples reach King's we do a Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT) test to detect any heavy alcohol consumption. To do the CDT test we had to put the samples into a centrifuge to separate the contents of the blood in the test tubes. Once the blood was separated into three parts, we poured some of the plasma into a smaller tube before putting the sample in the Sebia Capillary 2. The Sebia Capillary 2 would analyze the blood and give us a graph and a CDT value, which we would then send back to the DVLA. While carrying out these tests, I learned how to change out solutions and interpret the results that the Sebia Capillary 2 was putting out. Running tests and reading results is very helpful, but it is also very helpful to know how to keep up the maintenance of the machines. I was trained how to correct a problem with the Sebia Capillary 2 if an error report came through the computer, halting the tests going through. If a person doesn’t understand the maintenance, the machine is nearly useless until someone comes to fix it, which in the end can cut into a lot of the time the machine could be using to analyze blood and produce results.
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