Squid Microgravity Experiment 🚀 🐙 

Today, Lexi and I have compiled a brief video illustrating the basic steps to setting up a microgravity experiment with the squid and our NASA High Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV) Bioreactors!

While Lexi makes this look easy, there's a ton that needs to happen in a very short amount of time. Foster lab focuses on innate immune processes that occur within the first 24 hours post-hatching. That means as soon as the squid hatch, we have to be ready to go and finish setting up the experiment in less than an hour. (Continued below).

While that might sound like a lot of time, consider the following: that 60 minutes includes all of the preparation work and there are 16 HARV bioreactors in total that can hold 4-5 squid. Each of these must be tightened, loaded, de-bubbled, sealed, and then screwed onto the motors in the chamber while the lights inside are off!

We keep the bioreactors with the squid in them in the environmental chamber during experiments because the light/dark cycle is an incredibly important environmental cue for the hatchlings and we want to be as consistent as possible. 

Also - the reason why we spend so much time removing bubbles is because lil squid-lings will repeatedly run into the bubbles as the bioreactor rotates, which isn't good for them.

We hope you enjoy the video!

#squidinspace #HARVs