No Men Allowed
No, nothing to do with women’s football in Iran. I am talking about sonication. My supervisor is almost fearless: she is only fears the sonicator. And contaminations. And radioactive labels. And counter Geiger. And ethidium bromide. And the junkies in the park where the lab is, especially when she goes to work in the weekend on her own (but, frankly, who isn’t?). However, despite these marginal fears, she is lionhearted. For what concerns the sonicator, this is a new one, as I hadn’t used it until I began to do immunoprecipitation and, on this occasion, employed ultrasounds when shearing chromatin.
She took me to the basement level of the building where, close to the autoclave, our shiny, new sonicator is. There is obviously a good reason for keeping such an instrument there: the moment you turn it on, it starts making an unbearable noise. I had worked with less powerful models in the past and I can only assume that, as a general rule, the more powerful the machine, the greater the noise.
Still, noise is the least of the problems: apparently, ultrasounds can damage your gums and teeth. More worryingly, she warned me that, as a man, I should make sure NEVER to stay in the same room with the sonicator while it’s on as this is likely to result in permanent infertility in men only.
Is this fear totally irrational? As far as I can tell, it is. But I cannot entirely blame her as, if I have learnt anything during my first four months in the lab is that your fear is often useful, keeping you alert and concentrated.
Wouldn't the gum only be exposed if you're baring your teeth to the sonicator? As for your testicles, wouldn't the skin and clothing (assuming you don't sonicate naked) help prevent it? I wonder how close to the probe you have to be, in order to inflict damage.
Anyway, from my personal experience of using a sonicator, I'd be more worried about my hearing :D
I totally agree with you. The way she tries to protect me (and herself), however, is so touching I cannot mock her.