Lab 2 : Determination of Albumin's isoelectrical point

Well, as can be seen, this time the kids havta pinpoint the isoelectrical point of albumin. What is an albumin? Albumin is a kind of protein that originates from egg, the egg whites. That's juz its pretty name *lol*. Well, as proteins is very sensitive. Like a high class lady. No heat, no acid/alkali, no harsh handling; nearly EVERYTHING will effect a protein. Once all these kinds of treatments hit the poor lil lady, she'll crumble and looses her shape.

Basic knowledge, a protein retains its shape through the help of alot of bonds; some hydrophilic, some hydrophobic; some are really strong, some are weak, but important. These bonds can be easily hydrolized even with mild treaments which will lead to percipitation. Some proteins will be able to resist; as the treatment condition ceased it can return to its shape, but some wouldn't do. Sadly speaking.

Hence, this lab is to educate the kids on how to think logically. Since proteins behave according to the charges they have, they will be positively charged (H+) if they're in acidic condition, and negatively charged (OH-) if they are basic condition.

What will happen if the nett charge is 0? Well, it will loose both charges and becomes a zwitterion. So, what do you think will happen to all the bonds? and consequently what will be the physical attributes of such proteins?

Think baby, think.These are my teammates, demonstrators for the lab sessions (in layman term, we functions like mods in forums on the net, some sort liddat). From left is Kak Anu, Kheng2 and HF. Only the hand of my dress can be seen at the upper corner of the pic *lol* and another gal is missing in action (she's abit at the back) :D

My supervisor gave a 1 hour lecture on photospectrometry, since it has not been covered before. The kids have to use a spectrometer to determine the transmitant light in order to calculate for the turbidity of the solutions they prepare.

This is the spectro they use. It harbours 4 unit cells for faster reading. But I discourage them to use it since the cuvettes used are plastic, which is very VERY susceptible to scratches, which leads to a not-so-accurate reading. Quartz is too expensive and fragile for them to handle.

Pretty kids :)

Moving here moving there. Few spectros have to be shared since equipments are not enough. But then again, this lab is actually more equipped compared to the lab that we use during our undergraduate studies. God, they should truly be thankful.


This team has to repeat again their work since the spectro they use are not stable. The reading flactuates terribly. Kesian..

So tired..today is not a nice day. Rain rain rain..makes me feel sleepy all the way..My head and my eyes hurt..Tomorrow my labmates are coming to my house to break the fast togather..