Methods in Anopheles Research - MR4

Chapter 1 : Insectary Operation1.3 Scheduling and Regulating Your Work LoadPage 4 of 4Planning experiments: Working backward from the deadlineWhether you are coordinating materials for feeding or simply determining if you can complete anexperiment before a holiday, it is helpful to plan beginning with the deadline date and work backward tothe present using a schedule such as the one presented here. Failure to plan ahead could result in theexperimental material you reared for three weeks being ready on a weekend when you are not at work.You will need to modify the schedule to the actual time periods you experience with your colonies in yourlaboratories. An example of how to plan is given in Table 1.3.2.Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1 2 3 4 5 6 7blood8 9 10 11 12 13 14egg dish bleach egg hatch egg feed15 16 17 18 19 20 21check feed check feed feed feed feed22 23 24 25 26 27 28pupae 1 day old 2 days old 3 days old 4 days oldTable 1.3.2. In this example, the researcher needs 4-day old mosquitoes for an infection experiment onThursday the 26 th (yellow highlight). By working backwards on a calendar, one can see that bloodfeedingmust occur on Saturday the 7 th . For convenience, they may wish to bloodfeed on Friday and collect eggson Tuesday.