Tweet
The following story contains animal testing and thier abuse/neglect.
You have been warned.
Years before I became a lab tech, I was an undergraduate student hourly figuring out what sort of use I could get out of my degrees (besides laminating them and using them as place mats).
From my Junior year (3rd year) on I was the student hourly in charge of a butterfly colony. The lab was looking into the evolutionary development pathways of the 'eyespot' markings on the butterflies' wings.
Since the colony was my primary job concern I kept that room as clean and germ free as I could. Caterpillars were kept in a separate incubator in the sub-basement so there would be less chance of a disease transfer between the adults and the caterpillars.
Enter Post Doctoral Researcher M.
He was the only post-doc doing research on the b'flies. There had been problems before with M, and over the years I worked in the b'fly lab there were other problems that came about. This incident, during my second senior year, was what made me lose what little respect I had for him.
He had gotten some tobacco hornworm caterpillars from another scientist on campus and was going to do cross comparisons in their reactions to certain chemicals.
Instead of checking with J, the senior lab tech and ultimate authority on the b'fly colony, M just puts the hornworms in the adult b'fly colony room. He feeds and changes their cages *maybe* once a week, when the butterfly colony caterpillars had to be cleaned and changed and fed every day. (never mind that he was keeping caterpillars in with adults!)
Due to the imcompetence of M, only one of the 40 hornworm caterpillars makes it to pupal stage, while the rest have gone gray with death and stiff with rigor. Only to still remain in the b'fly room. I take the hornworn cages out and put them on M's bench hoping he get's the idea, but he puts them back in the b'fly room on the shelf next to the b'fly pupa. I become worried.
I tell M, that the hornworms are dead, but he claims they're still moving (infact the rigor had worn off). And he continues to change their cage once a week and put new food in with them. I become insulted, (Look, M, you were the one who came to me not knowing the basic anatomy of a butterfly, and now you're telling me I don't know the difference between alive and dead?!)
Unfortunately, the storage of the now-deceased hornworms starts a small breeding ground for bad insect diseases. Soon I see the b'fly pupa turning unhealthy colors and dying before they can emerge as adults. And I become angry.
I tell M again that he needs to do something about it. He doesn't believe this is the cause of the b'fly death and nothing is done. I take my concerns to J, who comes into the b'fly room, takes one look around, and promptly removes the hornworm boxes. Placing them with a note on M's bench.
On a day when on of the other b'fly girls was in, M complains about J's and mine actions to the Lab Director, S. S calls for a meeting with J and M, sides with J. S re-iterates to M, that J is the one in charge of the B'fly colony and that anything which might influence its health MUST be approved by J.
Suffice to say, M never did get to do his comparative study, but I got the back to being b'flies healthy and well in about 10 days.
You have been warned.
Years before I became a lab tech, I was an undergraduate student hourly figuring out what sort of use I could get out of my degrees (besides laminating them and using them as place mats).
From my Junior year (3rd year) on I was the student hourly in charge of a butterfly colony. The lab was looking into the evolutionary development pathways of the 'eyespot' markings on the butterflies' wings.
Since the colony was my primary job concern I kept that room as clean and germ free as I could. Caterpillars were kept in a separate incubator in the sub-basement so there would be less chance of a disease transfer between the adults and the caterpillars.
Enter Post Doctoral Researcher M.
He was the only post-doc doing research on the b'flies. There had been problems before with M, and over the years I worked in the b'fly lab there were other problems that came about. This incident, during my second senior year, was what made me lose what little respect I had for him.
He had gotten some tobacco hornworm caterpillars from another scientist on campus and was going to do cross comparisons in their reactions to certain chemicals.
Instead of checking with J, the senior lab tech and ultimate authority on the b'fly colony, M just puts the hornworms in the adult b'fly colony room. He feeds and changes their cages *maybe* once a week, when the butterfly colony caterpillars had to be cleaned and changed and fed every day. (never mind that he was keeping caterpillars in with adults!)
Due to the imcompetence of M, only one of the 40 hornworm caterpillars makes it to pupal stage, while the rest have gone gray with death and stiff with rigor. Only to still remain in the b'fly room. I take the hornworn cages out and put them on M's bench hoping he get's the idea, but he puts them back in the b'fly room on the shelf next to the b'fly pupa. I become worried.
I tell M, that the hornworms are dead, but he claims they're still moving (infact the rigor had worn off). And he continues to change their cage once a week and put new food in with them. I become insulted, (Look, M, you were the one who came to me not knowing the basic anatomy of a butterfly, and now you're telling me I don't know the difference between alive and dead?!)
Unfortunately, the storage of the now-deceased hornworms starts a small breeding ground for bad insect diseases. Soon I see the b'fly pupa turning unhealthy colors and dying before they can emerge as adults. And I become angry.
I tell M again that he needs to do something about it. He doesn't believe this is the cause of the b'fly death and nothing is done. I take my concerns to J, who comes into the b'fly room, takes one look around, and promptly removes the hornworm boxes. Placing them with a note on M's bench.
On a day when on of the other b'fly girls was in, M complains about J's and mine actions to the Lab Director, S. S calls for a meeting with J and M, sides with J. S re-iterates to M, that J is the one in charge of the B'fly colony and that anything which might influence its health MUST be approved by J.
Suffice to say, M never did get to do his comparative study, but I got the back to being b'flies healthy and well in about 10 days.
.
Comment