First visit ;)
After some struggle with the transportation and directions, I finally got to the lab and met Katie, a graduated student at RPI. We dived into her research right away. Katie gave me a brief but to the point presentation of the objective of her research. (below is a brief notes from Katie's project)
Lipitor (atorvastain) is a member of the drug class known as statins, used or lowering blood cholesterol in human body. It inhibits HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme found in liver tissue that plays a key role in production of cholesterol in the body.
After your body is done using it, part of the ative metabolite is discharged into the atmosphere through wastewater.
Lipitor benefits human health; HOWEVER, it has been shown to exhibit environmental toxicity in many organisms (insects, duckweed, parasites) thereby destabilizing environment. :(
Thus, we will be using UV spectroscopy to identify and try to measure its concentrations in the environment.
So today, after the short intro, we put on our whole suit (goggles, fancy white lab coat, and gloves) and start working with Lipitor. We made it into powder -ish and added methanol to make 3 different concentrations. We then tested out with UP spectroscopy. The results came out great and next time we may perform the same thing again just to double check our data.
It was really exciting to hear that in the future we will be taking sample directly from the environment and move in back to the lab to analyze it.
Looking forward to my next visit :)
Peggie
Peggie, I wish we could see you suited-up - you must look impressive in the lab!
ReplyDeleteYour project appears to be very interesting, and you seem to have a nice, basic understanding of what you are up to. During your next visit, ask for some reading material about this chemical system.