3 ms·

Do you have a biology/botany/lab tech background? I've always really wanted to get into this but really don't know where to start. Also, "Murashige and Skoog"

Do you have a biology/botany/lab tech background? I've always really wanted to get into this but really don't know where to start. Also, "Murashige and Skoog" is such a silly name; I love it.

steve_adams_86 2y ago
Ha, I love that name too. I have a background in absolutely nothing. Anyone can do this stuff. I mentioned in another comment, the book “Plants from Test Tubes: An Introduction to Micro-Propagation” was incredibly helpful to me. You can get a cursory understanding of things from YouTube or similar, but the book does a great job of explaining what you’re actually doing, how, and why. A good place to start is prepping some media and containers, collecting some plant tissues, sterilizing it, and dropping it into the media in the container! I know each step here is a subject within itself, but it really is this simple when you zoom out a bit. If you aren’t sure about how to make MS media, start with pre-made options from a company like Plant Cell Technologies. You can use glass jars with autoclaveable plastic lids as the containers. You can use a pressure cooker as your autoclave. Collecting the plant material can be simple or extremely difficult (collecting meristem material can be excruciating if you haven’t worked under a microscope before), and it’s fine to start simple (just use a piece of a leaf). You’ll want a flow hood or still air box, and you can make these for peanuts or buy small solutions for pretty reasonable prices. As someone once told me: There’s nothin to do but to do it
- markdown 2y ago
  Thank you for that; I appreciate you taking the time to post that. You've inspired me. > You’ll want a flow hood or still air box This was what I was going to ask next. I live in the middle of the Pacific ocean so shipping large things here is prohibitively expensive (for a hobby project) so I guess I'll have to make one. I'll do some googling.

Do you have a biology/botany/lab tech background? I've always really wanted to get into this but really don't know where to start. Also, "Murashige and Skoog" is such a silly name; I love it.

steve_adams_86 2y ago

Ha, I love that name too. I have a background in absolutely nothing. Anyone can do this stuff. I mentioned in another comment, the book “Plants from Test Tubes: An Introduction to Micro-Propagation” was incredibly helpful to me. You can get a cursory understanding of things from YouTube or similar, but the book does a great job of explaining what you’re actually doing, how, and why. A good place to start is prepping some media and containers, collecting some plant tissues, sterilizing it, and dropping it into the media in the container! I know each step here is a subject within itself, but it really is this simple when you zoom out a bit. If you aren’t sure about how to make MS media, start with pre-made options from a company like Plant Cell Technologies. You can use glass jars with autoclaveable plastic lids as the containers. You can use a pressure cooker as your autoclave. Collecting the plant material can be simple or extremely difficult (collecting meristem material can be excruciating if you haven’t worked under a microscope before), and it’s fine to start simple (just use a piece of a leaf). You’ll want a flow hood or still air box, and you can make these for peanuts or buy small solutions for pretty reasonable prices. As someone once told me: There’s nothin to do but to do it

markdown 2y ago
Thank you for that; I appreciate you taking the time to post that. You've inspired me. > You’ll want a flow hood or still air box This was what I was going to ask next. I live in the middle of the Pacific ocean so shipping large things here is prohibitively expensive (for a hobby project) so I guess I'll have to make one. I'll do some googling.