Larry Polsky wrote- >As a newcomer to sorting, I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on >the need for inserting a static drain wire into non-conducting >sort-collection tubes. > >There are references in the literature (see below*) that note the >possibility of sorted droplets being repelled by static charge that can >accumulate on non-conducting, plastic collection tubes. The suggestion >made in these references is to insert a grounded drain wire into the >collection tube to dissipate any charge. However, two experienced sorters >who I have asked about this have not seen static accumulation to be a >problem and do not use drain wires. The suggestions have also been made >to use glass tubes (not always possible) or to coat non-conducting >collection tubes with serum to achieve the same result. The droplets you sort are charged. If you sort them into a nonconductive vessel, they stay charged (you can pick up a shock by dipping your finger into a weight boat full of sorted droplets, but it's kind of hard to get a finger into one of the small tubes typically used for sorting). Once you accumulate a pool of charged droplets, they tend to repel droplets of like charge. I don't sort much, but when I have done sorts, I have noted some strange behavior of droplets, which seemed to go away when I used a grounding wire. If you are not inexplicably losing cells, you probably don't need to bother with grounding. If accumulated charge got to be a problem, the best solution might be to have collection tubes made of conductive plastic. -Howard
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