3 ms·

One feels compelled to mention the family member who learned the hard way of the dangers of mouth pipetting... while working in a bovine sperm collection facili

One feels compelled to mention the family member who learned the hard way of the dangers of mouth pipetting... while working in a bovine sperm collection facility....

ta988 3y ago
This just hurts one's ego, try that with acids/bases or highly toxic compounds.
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  One of the first medical instruments I developed code for featured automated precision pipettes (precision measured in single microliters) for sampling reagents and human body fluids. We had a guest once who used to be a lab nurse and mentioned using mouth pipettes. The looks of horror on the scientists in the room was palpable!
waltbosz 3y ago
Interesting, I too heard of mouth pipetting via an antidote about a modern day bovine sperm collection facility. I was surprised that anyone still did it given the availability of the micropipett. Also, I wonder why the scientists of the past didn't obtain the liquid samples by simply sticking their thumb over one end of a straw dipped in the liquid.
- adolph 3y ago
  > sticking their thumb over one end of a straw dipped in the liquid Brings back memories of learning how to do that with my siblings. Every chance we got, we would scrunch up straw wrappers and then use the method to animate the wrapper with liquid. Not certain if I should show my kids how to do that.
- seanc 3y ago
  The pipettes I worked with in school 30 years ago were effectively glass straws with a mark for the designated volume. One dipped it in the solution over the mark, used the thumb to seal it, and then carefully let tiny amounts of air in to drop the bottom of the miniscus down to the line. It was terrible and nothing ever worked and my thumbs hurt.
kragen 3y ago
that sounds pretty safe; hiv and cmv don't infect cows. what are the dangers?
analog31 3y ago
My mom pipetted by mouth in grad school in the 50s, doing radiochemistry.
- bell-cot 3y ago
  A bit further back - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_dial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_dial > Radium dials were typically painted by young women, who used to 'point' their brushes by licking and shaping the bristles prior to painting the fine lines and numbers on the dials. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. The disease, radium-induced osteonecrosis, was recognized as an occupational disease in 1925 after a group of radium painters, known as the Radium Girls, from the United States Radium Corporation sued. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy.

One feels compelled to mention the family member who learned the hard way of the dangers of mouth pipetting... while working in a bovine sperm collection facility....

ta988 3y ago

This just hurts one's ego, try that with acids/bases or highly toxic compounds.

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
One of the first medical instruments I developed code for featured automated precision pipettes (precision measured in single microliters) for sampling reagents and human body fluids. We had a guest once who used to be a lab nurse and mentioned using mouth pipettes. The looks of horror on the scientists in the room was palpable!

waltbosz 3y ago

Interesting, I too heard of mouth pipetting via an antidote about a modern day bovine sperm collection facility. I was surprised that anyone still did it given the availability of the micropipett. Also, I wonder why the scientists of the past didn't obtain the liquid samples by simply sticking their thumb over one end of a straw dipped in the liquid.

adolph 3y ago
> sticking their thumb over one end of a straw dipped in the liquid Brings back memories of learning how to do that with my siblings. Every chance we got, we would scrunch up straw wrappers and then use the method to animate the wrapper with liquid. Not certain if I should show my kids how to do that.
seanc 3y ago
The pipettes I worked with in school 30 years ago were effectively glass straws with a mark for the designated volume. One dipped it in the solution over the mark, used the thumb to seal it, and then carefully let tiny amounts of air in to drop the bottom of the miniscus down to the line. It was terrible and nothing ever worked and my thumbs hurt.

kragen 3y ago

that sounds pretty safe; hiv and cmv don't infect cows. what are the dangers?

analog31 3y ago

My mom pipetted by mouth in grad school in the 50s, doing radiochemistry.

bell-cot 3y ago
A bit further back - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_dial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_dial > Radium dials were typically painted by young women, who used to 'point' their brushes by licking and shaping the bristles prior to painting the fine lines and numbers on the dials. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. The disease, radium-induced osteonecrosis, was recognized as an occupational disease in 1925 after a group of radium painters, known as the Radium Girls, from the United States Radium Corporation sued. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy.