No lab coats and gas burner for stem cell culture?!
Hi!
I wanted to gauge how common this is. I've been working in iPSC differentiation for 4-5 years, 4 different labs and always worn a lab coat (washed every 1-2 weeks) with my gloves pulled over the cuffs in the hood. Additionally, everything is sprayed with 70% EtOH or iso and put in the hood.
I am on a 2 month placement in another country and they do not wear lab coats, just gloves and bare arms in the hood. They do spray briefly before putting things in. And everything is sterilised using a gas burner in the hood, by waving glass pipette tips, media bottle openings etc briefly in the flame.
How common is this? I have never seen a lab like this in my home country (UK) and I'm not saying this other way is wrong, just I was surprised about mixing 70% ethanol and gas burners together. Surely bare arms introduce bacteria to the hood?
Also, does waving the aspirator glass pipette tip briefly in a flame really kill enough cells to dip it in another well with a different cell line? I have always put a plastic pipette tip on the end of my aspirator.
Thanks!