Question: Your bio says you complete a different experement every day.an u tell me one?

Alison Thomson answered on 13 Nov 2014:

Of course! So one of the experiments I’m doing is to find out if there are any cells called ‘B cells’ in the spleen of someone who has SMA (the disease I’m working on).

So what I do is cut a super thin slice of spleen and put it on a piece of glass called a slide. Then I put antibodies on it, which work like a lock and key – every cell type is has different shapes on it’s surface, so if we use an antibody that is compatible with a specific cell surface shape, we’ll be able to see where those cells are! So just like your house key only works for your house and no one else’s, this antibody will work on b-cells and no other ones.
Once I’ve done that, I add another antibody that will only attach to the one that I’ve already put on, but this one has a fluorescent marker on it – like a highlighter pen!
Once I’ve put that on, I can go and look through a fluorescent microscope to see where my B cells are, and to make sure they look like what they’re meant to look like!

Thanks for asking!