#TheBumblingBiochemist and Operation Collect Crystals in Crisis!

Protein is in desperate need of X-rays, but it's trapped in a sea of liquid. Can she rescue them?

She’ll have to face several villains: cold, drop skin, & ice. Is she up for the task? Let’s find out! THREAD 1/n pic.twitter.com/zZntenmbnz

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Each protein molecule's very small ⏩ to be able to locate them, #theBumblingBiochemist helped them organize into groups & link together in ordered crystals.

She’ll explain in a later thread – just know crystals are in liquid💧s hanging from the ceiling of a plate's wells 2/n pic.twitter.com/cE9Wya1ocx

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

In the last episode of #BroadcastsOfTheBumblingBiochemist, the Bumbling Biochemist prepared the “life preservers” (CryoLoops) she’ll use for the rescue: https://t.co/wN3GmqpLvV 3/n

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Now, she needs to prepare herself to meet villain #1: cold! The crystallization room is deceptively cold (we keep it at 17°C, which isn’t as bad as the 4°C cold room but still gives a chill) ⛄️ ⏩ LAYERS to the rescue! 4/n pic.twitter.com/uMdxWd7lyg

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Geared up, it’s ⏰ to get to work! With the help of Mike of the Microscope & his search light, #theBumblingBiochemist begins looking well-by-well for proteins that followed her guidance & organized into crystals (most of the proteins didn’t & will have to be left behind 😪). 5/n pic.twitter.com/eBmvbA9nUd

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

She has a good idea which wells have crystals because the plates have been periodically imaged by an automated microscope, but it’s still important to check manually. 6/n pic.twitter.com/fHfTyCQhH2

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

When she comes across a well with crystal(s), she marks it so that she knows where to come back with the rescue tools. 7/n pic.twitter.com/tEO4av3Lk3

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Speaking of rescue tools, time to get out those “life preserver” CryoLoops she prepared. She snaps them onto the ends of magnetic wands that will help her pull the crystals out once she lassos them, and positions them for easy access. 8/n pic.twitter.com/efepjlqWdN

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Such easy access is crucial because time is not on her side (so these 📸 are from training missions) – time is on the side of her enemy, drop skin!

What’s that? It’s the “crust” that surrounds the drop, entrapping the crystals, & it gains strength when exposed to air. 9/n pic.twitter.com/IF5RLwueVH

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Time may be on skin’s side, but the Bumbling Biochemist has allies as well including acupuncture needles and these cool @MiTeGen “microtools” that slide into mechanical pencils. These tools help her peel away the skin (hopefully without the skin taking the crystals hostage!) 10/n pic.twitter.com/0LJzsNH4zE

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Once she rescues the crystals she’ll need a way to transport them to the synchrotron for their X-rays.

Vehicle of choice? “Pucks” (yep, they look a lot like hockey pucks 🏒). Each puck seats 16 crystals, and #theBumblingBiochemist makes note of who sits where. 11/n pic.twitter.com/9Xrd0YWyBV

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Now that she’s prepared to face 2 of her enemies, cold & drop skin, it’s ⏰ to prepare for villain #3: ice!

When it comes to crystals, protein crystals are #theBumblingBiochemist’s friends, but water crystals (ice) are her enemies ⏩ ice can damage the protein crystals 12/n

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

To keep this damaging ice from forming, she needs to get the puck super cold (with liquid nitrogen) so that the protein freezes before the water molecules have any chance to organize into ice. 13/n pic.twitter.com/Q6Thctekap

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Time to rescue those crystals! (Hopefully #theBumblingBiochemist can freeze the crystals before the room freezes her!) 14/n pic.twitter.com/Ls8yTqQUaY

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Now she’s prepared for the rescue mission, #theBumblingBiochemist returns to the wells she marked as containing crystals of protein in distress & (carefully) cuts out the piece of ceiling they’re hanging from (not just medical doctors (or doctors-to-be) use scalpels) 15/n pic.twitter.com/Nd48PKfa05

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

She now flips the ceiling piece onto a glass cover slide.

The cover slide helps her move around the drops as she tries to quickly bring the crystals back into focus under the 🔬 while drop skin draws strength from the air. 16/n pic.twitter.com/aNFQQJLWcn

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

And she still has to worry about that other villain, ice! She puts a drop of a solution that contains a cryoprotectant next to the drops.

Once she captures a crystal in her loop, she’ll give it a quick “bath” in this solution which will help keep the water molecules apart 17/n pic.twitter.com/mnLEsk9KX7

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Time to go “fishing!” 🎣 The currents produced by the rescue efforts can be strong (especially when the rescuer is shaking with nerves), so the crystals often get carried away and it’s hard to lasso them into the life preserver CryoLoops. 18/n pic.twitter.com/LF8VXyS0IZ

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

Eventually, however, after lots of training practice, success! The Bumbling Biochemist captures a crystal! After a quick dip in the cryoprotectant she snaps it into the super-chilled puck (still in the liquid nitrogen). 19/n pic.twitter.com/VOkEI9MrTI

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

That was only a single crystal – there are still other crystals in crisis! Not to fear – the Bumbling Biochemist returns to rescue the others, each time adding them to the puck until there are no more seats. 20/n

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

After lots of hard work, the puck is full, but the crystals still have to wait for their X-ray appointment, so #theBumblingBiochemist parks the puck in a puck hangar/cargo ship for storage. 21/n pic.twitter.com/yIH7VBJwf0

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

The crystals may be out of the drops, but they aren’t yet out of danger! If they’re allowed to thaw, ice can sneak in, so the hangar is plunged into a container of liquid nitrogen (ice’s krypton) to keep it cold. 22/n pic.twitter.com/swMdOLgN30

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

This victory will require vigilance. Despite the container's insulated walls, the liquid nitrogen gradually evaporates – time once again is not on #theBumblingBiochemist’s side!

But, by refilling the container w/ice krypton (liquid N) every few days, she can keep ice away! 23/n pic.twitter.com/4wGg7g2UIC

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018

For now, #theBumblingBiochemist can celebrate 🎉 (& drink coffee ☕️… & sleep…💤) having successfully collected crystals in crisis!

And thus ends this ed of #BroadcastsOfTheBumblingBiochemist: Operation Collect Crystals in Crisis! END #biochemistry #scicomm #crystallography pic.twitter.com/FiQzJkrPBs

— Brianna Bibel (@biochem_bri) April 9, 2018