Sorren G.

Tissue Culture Journal

Journal 16: (1/23/26)

This whole week ive been reading my genetics textbook, its really interesting. Im waiting for Megan to get the African Violets, shes got sick and its been a few weeks. So I'm waiting for the Violets.

Journal 15: (1/15/26)

So there was a small failure today. Me and some other WISRD people went to the Ace hardware store to pick up some African Violets and other stuff, but there weren't any Violets :( Megan is going to pick some up for me over the weekend. When I got back, I found a good African Violet Procedure, so that was a success. Heres the link for it: https://phytotechlab.com/media/documents/Protocols/AfricanVioletMicropropagation.pdf

Journal 14: (1/14/26)

Megan is going to get me African Violets that are growing in soil instead of tissue medium, so I can try to transfer real plants. This is a more accurate test of my tissue culture abilities, as plants will have a harder time adjusting from soil to medium. I am also reading the book “Genetics for dummies” to gain a better understanding of genetic engineering for my experiments next year.

Journal 13: (1/6/26)

So I need to set my goals for the rest of the semester. I want to have a solid foundation for genetic engineering, so I aim to have 5 fully seeded African Violets by summer. My last experiment kinda failed, but I learned steril technique for it. I am also going to collaborate with Thea, who is raising fruit flies, and I am going to feed their flies to my venus fly traps. I am going to try and set small daily goals for every WISRD class, per the advice of my fellow WISRDs.

Journal 12: (12/16/25)

So my plants got contaminated :(

One of them has mold, and the other has some sort of red film on top. I’m bummed it didn’t work, but Megan says it never works the first time; the first time is a learning experience. Next time, I am going to work under the laminar flow hood and use fire to burn off alcohol from my tools.

Journal 11: (12/5/25)

Poster session was today, the speaker was so cool! She talked about her journey through science, writing, social issues (racism), getting a PHD, and sunscreen science. This is a super relevant topic to me because I burn in 10 seconds in the sun, so I wear a lot of sunscreen. Turns out, Zinc Oxide (a common ingredient in sunscreen) does something to the coagulation of sunscreen and makes it less effective then it says on the bottle. Also, turns out a lot of SPF claims are wrong :( This is why it's important to re-test studies.

Journal 10: (12/2/25)

My Poster was due today, here it is:

I really like it, and I made it by copying the WILD lab’s format. I had a few issues with writing conventions, but mostly I like it. It also really feels like scientific writing, like I'm doing real research.

Journal 9: (11/21/25)

AHHHHH I DID MY REAL EXPERIMENT TODAY!!!! I I cut 4 leaves of the steril African violet plant, and washed them in soapy water. Then I put the leaves in a jar of 10% bleach solution with a drop of dish soap. I stirred the jar for 10 minutes. After this point, I was using sterile technique and spraying everything down with 70% isopropyl alcohol. I dipped the explants in isopropyl alcohol for 15 seconds, and removed with forceps. After, I placed the leaves on the hard side of a sterile petri dish. I proceeded to cut of both sides and ends, until I had a small square leaf, I then cut it into 3 rectangular pieces. After repeating with all explants, I placed them in the jars of agar. I then sealed the lid and placed them in the greenhouse. This was my first time really doing steril technique, and I hope I don’t get any contamination.

Journal 8: (11/19/25)

I started my first actual tissue culture experiment today! Or at least the first step, I boiled two bottles of my media to melt the liquid, and I’m letting it resolidify over the next day. That way, It will be ready and prepped for me to start my experiment next class! I am so excited to start my actual experiment, after so long of research :D

Journal 7:

Here’s a picture of my plants being happy :) I also learned steril technique today! It was just a lot of “don’t touch anything”

Journal 6:

I got the African Violets kit!!! I’m going to do a little version in class, and then I'm going to do the bigger lab in my garage. Here’s a picture of my plants in their new greenhouse home!

Journal 5:

I’m continuing my research and learning how to cut the explants. For African violets, you need to get young leaves with a little bit of stem attached. The insomnia for the year has really started to set in, so I've been sleeping in all my classes, especially Wisrd, because it’s the only one I won’t get yelled at in. Its not good for my prodject, but its a little unavoidable.

Journal 4:

I started learning face painting for Dark Matter Day.

Journal 3:

I continued the work from journal one and started learning the science behind tissue culture. I think this class will make me a real scientist :D

Journal 2:

I continued the work from journal one. Everyone’s really nice, and I have Thea in my class so it’s already my favorite.

Journal 1:

I’m so excited to join Wisrd!! I started writing down the process of tissue culture from this video.

https://youtu.be/A9oyx9NCz1E?si=cEtfVEEYu36vn9QL