Missing tools can disrupt experiments, waste researchers’ time and, in some cases, jeopardize time-sensitive work involving living animals. Researchers including chemist and industrial designer Greg Banard, neurobiologist Momoko Takahashi, cell-therapy researcher Sandra Petrus-Royler and neurologist George Chen describe practical ways to prevent equipment and samples from disappearing, including inventories, usage rules, clear ownership labels, secure storage and backup supplies.
When Banard began a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Calgary in Canada, equipment was often unavailable when needed. As a scientist particular about the type of spatula used, Banard became frustrated when a favorite tool went missing. After several kits disappeared, searching for misplaced equipment became intolerable.
The problem inspired Banard to create a portable pouch that could fit into a lab-coat pocket. “Most of the things I ended up reaching for myself,” Banard says. Although Banard now works as an industrial designer, the pouch remains a memento of those research days.
At the time, Banard was working in a dye laboratory investigating the functionality of perylene diimide dyes for the active layer of solar cells. The pouch held an “army” of diamond and carbide glass cutters, ear curettes for handling small amounts of powdered dye, test-tube holders, pencils, spatulas, small scissors, felt markers and tweezers. “It was a busy lab, and people needed to get their work done,” Banard says. “The best way to get the job done was to know where everything was.”
Public speaking tips from experts: What scientists can learn from comics, musicians, and actors
The absence of equipment can do more than cause irritation. Scientists often need specialized tools to keep delicate experiments running smoothly. Takahashi, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, recalls panicking when she could not find a syringe during a time-sensitive procedure involving mouse neurons.
“If you fail at one particular moment, it starts a domino effect,” she says. “If the experiment wasn’t successful, I just wasted the lives of a lot of animals, and I feel really guilty about that.”
Routine borrowing, accidental theft, mislabeling and the movement of samples can turn shared laboratories into crime scenes. Reddit is filled with scientists asking how to prevent items from “disappearing” and how to recover missing equipment. Many apparent “thefts”, however, are accidental or at least not malicious. Researchers spoke to Nature about protecting their work, equipment and peace of mind without becoming the laboratory’s secret police.
Prevent equipment from disappearing
Introduce a system
Researchers told Nature that all types of equipment can vanish from laboratories, from small items such as pens and pipettes to expensive equipment such as centrifuges and computers. Inventory lists, sign-out sheets and shared-equipment guidelines can make it harder for items to disappear without a trace.
Takahashi emphasizes the value of centralized organization, including formal or informal laboratory managers and documentation for tracking equipment. “Labs are small businesses and should be run like small businesses,” she says. She has found herself acting as a “pseudo lab manager” in every laboratory she has worked in. “Implementing organizational controls right away is critical to ensuring everything runs smoothly.”
Sandra Petrus-Royler, a cell-therapy researcher at the University of Cambridge in the UK, also recommends creating a detailed inventory from the beginning. Tracking who has used a particular sample makes it easier to determine when and how something went missing.
Set clear procedures and usage rules
Procedures are especially important when researchers share equipment or laboratory space. An Australian PhD student who asked to remain anonymous says that communal refrigerators and freezers, reagents and ventilation hoods are among the biggest sources of conflict in the facilities where she works.
To reduce disputes in shared research spaces, the university introduced a bench- and food-reservation system. Each person has an assigned tray in every refrigerator and freezer, and each storage area has a controlled inventory to track the movement of items and samples.
6 tips to improve your spreadsheets
Chen, a neurologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in California, says that expensive machines and other equipment are sometimes funded by multiple laboratories, which can create confusion and conflict. Clearly showing who may use equipment can help. A poster explaining which materials are jointly owned and can be shared between laboratories might be enough. “Be transparent and find a system where everyone can easily see what’s going on,” he says.
Mark ownership clearly
Clarifying ownership can prevent problems. One of the first things Takahashi did after joining her current laboratory was label everything. “I always tell undergraduates to write their initials or write their name,” she says.
In Banard’s laboratory, each member had a designated colour of electrical tape and wrapped it around their assigned tools. Banard’s colour, for example, was green.
The Australian PhD student says that clearly labeling reagents and pipettes can help people understand what they may and may not use. After her laboratory was accused of stealing antibodies from another group, its members began placing custom stickers on all of their property.
Giving an item a name that only the research group understands can also deter accidental or deliberate borrowing. The student says her group once created a code name for a cell line after cultured cells began going missing. Potential “thieves” would not know what the code name referred to, and the cells stopped disappearing after the group began using code names.
Hidden labels can provide another layer of protection. A former neuroscientist at the University of Oxford in the UK, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid revealing the laboratory’s methods, says his group hid markers inside equipment. “Visible labels can be easily peeled off or rubbed, so hidden labels allow us to prove that misplaced equipment is ours,” he says.
Store equipment securely
Takahashi recommends keeping equipment in cabinets or drawers instead of leaving it in the open, where it can be removed or picked up accidentally. People are less likely to search through a drawer than take something from a bench, she says. Before leaving for home, she hid her valuable forceps in a drawer.
When more protection is needed, PhD students can use a lockable box or container accessible only to them or their team. Petrus-Royler once bought a refrigerator with a lock to create more storage space while signalling that access was restricted. “I never took the lock off, but adding a little physical barrier helped,” she says.
Minimize the impact of missing equipment
Keep backup supplies separate
If equipment or supplies do go missing, a second inventory can reduce the disruption. Petrus-Royler and Chen recommend keeping backup supplies because commonly used items can run out faster than researchers can replace them, while theft or misplacement can make the problem worse.
Chen keeps a secondary supply of tissue-culture plates and pipette tips in a hidden drawer. “It’s not expensive, but it always seems to disappear from the cabinet before someone reorders it,” he says.
Keep personal tools separate
Even well-equipped laboratories can lose commonly used tools. “Even in a well-equipped laboratory, things can happen,” Banard says. Planning for that possibility can help.
Like Banard, Chen keeps some personal instruments separate and makes it clear that they belong to him, reducing the chance that someone will pick them up accidentally or intentionally.
Source: www.nature.com
