Garlic and swede

For those of you who don’t know, my final year project is based on the effect of a constituent of garlic (diallyl disulphide) on MRSA. Unfortunately, this is the compound that produces the distinct smell of garlic, which I am using at high purity (so a lot stronger). The pungent smell has filled the corridor and lingers for days after use (my nickname of Smellon is quite accurate in this case). The compound I have to use is so strong that it melts plastic, making my plastic well-plate experiments a complete disaster, and spreading the substance over everything. My supervisor is convinced that it is ‘good for you’ even though it says ‘harmful’ on the bottle and gives me a headache whenever I use it. Ah well, it’s all part of the fun of lab work and anyway, what’s the worst that could happen?

Oh yes, and not forgetting, I have breaking news on our swede Valentine. It was Ian. The (then) Co-president has been lying to us all along. I actually spent a significant chunk of an evening discussing my list of suspects with him, while he suggested people that I hadn’t yet considered. He always made me feel bad whenever I accused him by appearing upset that I couldn’t trust him, but now I see that it was just a ploy to throw me off the right track. We haven’t eaten the swede, but have decided to keep it for a few months until it is repulsively mouldy at which point we will unappreciatively return his ‘gift’.