• Question: What sort of experiments do you do to find out the answers?

    Asked by queeneva to Laura, Nicola, Norman, Sandra, Thanasis on 12 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by sparky12, tomlehrer, zurg92.
    • Photo: Laura Soul

      Laura Soul answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      All sorts of different ones, but most of them involve collecting lots of data by looking at lots of fossils or measuring them, and then the main part of the experiment is analysing the data in lots of different ways to see what I can find out.

    • Photo: Nicola Wardrop

      Nicola Wardrop answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      I build statistical models which shows me how one thing (like temperature) influences the number of people that get a disease. Then I can use this model to predict the number of people with the disease in areas where I have never even been, so I don’t know what is going on there! It helps us to find places where we might need to go and treat people.

    • Photo: Sandra Phinbow

      Sandra Phinbow answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      My experiments enable me to extract cells from a fluid and concentrate those cells onto a microscope slide. I then add special stains and dyes so that we can see them under the microscope.

      So there loads of different stains, and they show up different hings, depending on what we are looking for or how we have pre treated the cells.

      We can use a Periodic Acid Schiffs to look for the presence of gylcogen. And
      Gram stain for bacteria
      Wade Fite – leprosy
      Ziehl Neelsen – Tuberculosis
      Giemsa – Rocky Mountain Spotted fever
      Von Kossa – Calcium
      Grocott – fungi

      We probably do around 50 different special stains on slides

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