Song He walked around the laboratory and chose his task: the patch clamp!
The principle behind the patch clamp was simple. A hair-thin glass pipette was used to clamp onto a cell membrane and test the various properties of nerve cells.
Ion channel currents, single-cell currents, whole-cell currents, membrane potentials, membrane currents, postsynaptic potentials, and so on—it was a cure-all that could do almost anything. By measuring all those chaotic readings, one could infer many things, such as whether a drug molecule had actually taken effect.
The principle was simple, but the actual operation was extremely difficult!
A single cell was already tiny, to say nothing of trying to seize a dendrite cluster or axon fiber. The difficulty was practically like using a rolling pin to clean one's ears. The slightest tremor could rip the cell to pieces.
Moreover, the procedure required fresh brain slices. Considering that he had no experience at all, Song He decisively dragged Fan Tao over as his assistant and had her handle the monkey-killing.
"Piece of cake!" Fan Tao said arrogantly.
When an expert made a move, one immediately knew whether they were the real deal!
Fan Tao moved swiftly, displaying the full bearing of a professional butcher!
First, she found a half-dead, critically ill monkey and quickly killed it while it was still alive.
After removing the brain, she put it into a vibrating microtome and rapidly cut off the brain slices, soaking them in artificial cerebrospinal fluid for temporary preservation. Throughout the entire procedure, she also had to continuously supply oxygen to ensure that the brain slices stayed fresh.
Once the brain slices had been extracted, Fan Tao's work was more or less done.
Song He tossed her a little red flower and sent her away, then operated the instruments by himself.
Although