• Question: hey! what is the most horrible thing you ever touched

    Asked by shockz21 to Nik on 18 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Nicola Ibberson

      Nicola Ibberson answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Inside work or outside work?! :b I don’t think I’ve touched anything too horrible at work, we mostly wear gloves so we are protected. Handling saliva is pretty disgusting, especially when it has bits of food floating in it and stinks really bad. Ew. It makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it…

      Other than that, we use a chemical called phenol to extract DNA from a cell sample. If you touch it, it BURNS. Not just a little bit, but really, really burns. I once flicked a tiny little bit on my arm, and just brushed it away thinking it would be fine, and then slowly my arm started to feel like it was on fire! Luckily we have another chemical called PEG that neutralises it and takes the pain away. I won’t be spilling that on myself again any time soon.

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