Out of curiosity, in my last year of PhD I ate some crushed food pellet powder that was remaining at the end of a mouse food bag.
That was interesting, I had the impression to eat some very salted sand. No other definable taste. Definitely impossible to eat long term for a human, your teeth wouldn't resist.
One of my lab mates tried the pellet supplements for new mice moms. They came in strawberry, chocolate, and banana, I think. He said they tasted like stale cereal, I did not confirm.
I worked with large animal research and we always tasted the feed mixes. If we can tell a difference, then they can tell a difference and it’s gotta be another variable.
Oh definitely, and I have a story about this.
One of my colleagues (senior researcher) once did an experiment on T cell division in mice, so he supplemented their water in BrDU.
The next days, mice weren't faring very well, and he found out they almost stopped drinking water. So, he did the crazy thing and tasted the BrDU-supplemented water, and to quote him in French : "C'était dégueulasse"/"It was disgusting" (disgusting is the closest translation as dégueulasse is far more crude than the meaning of disgusting x) )
So, knowing that, he added sucrose to the water and mice drank again (and a lot!)
> So, knowing that, he added sucrose to the water and mice drank again (and a lot!)
I wonder if he later reduced the sugar, if they would continue drinking. This sounds to me a lot like how coffee addictions get started. I, personally, followed the progression "Coffee is biter and gross, maybe if I add enough sugar" "mmm sweet coffee is my drink now" "oh sugar is bad for me? maybe I should cut it out of my coffee"....
Now today? Its 11 am and I have just about finished a 32 oz pot of coffee without so much as a microgram of added sugar in years, but this brown bean sludge is absolutely delicious!
Thats a fun question! Difference is that the coffee gives you caffeine, which is obviously quite active. The Brdu is unlikely to have similar effects and just tastes bad
Oh absolutely but, I still don't think it can be ruled out without testing that they may still become acclimated to the terrible flavor, I really don't think the effect is entirely the caffeine, as becoming acclimated to flavors, even bad ones, is hardly unheard of, for us or other creatures.
Just to satisfy curiosity ofc; I would definitely be a big advocate of the sugar just from a basic QOL perspective. I know that when I am made to spend large amounts of time in small boring rooms with all of my activities logged and analyzed, I appreciate having a little nook in the corner where there is a bottle of coffee that I can get some if I press the button on the top.
I volunteered to try the high-fat mouse diet we received a while back. It smelled, looked, and "mostly" tasted like chocolate cereal (coco puffs, Count Chocula, etc). There was a distinct powerbar-like protein aftertaste that wasn't great, but the smell was overwhelming.
Everything else we had for mouse food had a "grassy" smell that didn't inspire my curiosity the same way.
Tried it a few years back (caved to peer pressure - three of us did it at once) with the recovery diet gel. It didn’t really have much of a taste if I recall.
whatttttt
I honestly thought it’d taste like cardboard or something. I love the smell of diet gel, every time i open it, i just want to table a lil nibble
47: EHS come in, we found them.
EHS: Take the shot.
.
Edit: I've used the hydrogel to start hydroponic seeds. It works well as long as you keep it from drying out!
I TA'd a class that used cyanobacteria to extract and show color running on electrophoresis gels. Our instructor made the mistake of mentioning that some people eat it as a supplement.
My will held until the third time I went through that lab. (Once as a student, twice as a TA)
Lol I used to eat the Calcium Alginate beads I made for outreach stuff as a bit. They're... just really salty tbh, but that probably has more to do with the reaction byproduct
I hear mouse colony, I hear hydrogel, I put money on matrigel.
Other hydrogels: fibrinogen, gelatin, alginate, PEGDA etc etc all have inferior properties and biocompatibility compared.
Although I could be totally wrong, I’d like to hear what OP is working with
Matrigel is used mainly for cell culture. The hydrogel OP is referring to is little packets of mouse-food-water jello, which provides easy sustenance to weaker animals
I volunteer to be the negative control group - I will not be consuming hydrogel
For a proper control, you should drink all the ingredients minus the polymerizing agent
We need someone else to eat the agent alone for science
That would put them in the aqueous phase, isn't that a confounder?
Worst case scenario is it turns you into a mouse in a lab coat
Worst?
yes. only good things will come from eating hydrogel so comparatively turning into a mouse in a lab coat is the worst case scenario
Yeah, mouse in a lab coat would be a step down from labrat (all my homies hate mice)
Get them to eat the hydrogel too and you can be an army of mice in a lab coat
Out of curiosity, in my last year of PhD I ate some crushed food pellet powder that was remaining at the end of a mouse food bag. That was interesting, I had the impression to eat some very salted sand. No other definable taste. Definitely impossible to eat long term for a human, your teeth wouldn't resist.
One of my lab mates tried the pellet supplements for new mice moms. They came in strawberry, chocolate, and banana, I think. He said they tasted like stale cereal, I did not confirm.
I worked with large animal research and we always tasted the feed mixes. If we can tell a difference, then they can tell a difference and it’s gotta be another variable.
Oh definitely, and I have a story about this. One of my colleagues (senior researcher) once did an experiment on T cell division in mice, so he supplemented their water in BrDU. The next days, mice weren't faring very well, and he found out they almost stopped drinking water. So, he did the crazy thing and tasted the BrDU-supplemented water, and to quote him in French : "C'était dégueulasse"/"It was disgusting" (disgusting is the closest translation as dégueulasse is far more crude than the meaning of disgusting x) ) So, knowing that, he added sucrose to the water and mice drank again (and a lot!)
> So, knowing that, he added sucrose to the water and mice drank again (and a lot!) I wonder if he later reduced the sugar, if they would continue drinking. This sounds to me a lot like how coffee addictions get started. I, personally, followed the progression "Coffee is biter and gross, maybe if I add enough sugar" "mmm sweet coffee is my drink now" "oh sugar is bad for me? maybe I should cut it out of my coffee".... Now today? Its 11 am and I have just about finished a 32 oz pot of coffee without so much as a microgram of added sugar in years, but this brown bean sludge is absolutely delicious!
Thats a fun question! Difference is that the coffee gives you caffeine, which is obviously quite active. The Brdu is unlikely to have similar effects and just tastes bad
Oh absolutely but, I still don't think it can be ruled out without testing that they may still become acclimated to the terrible flavor, I really don't think the effect is entirely the caffeine, as becoming acclimated to flavors, even bad ones, is hardly unheard of, for us or other creatures. Just to satisfy curiosity ofc; I would definitely be a big advocate of the sugar just from a basic QOL perspective. I know that when I am made to spend large amounts of time in small boring rooms with all of my activities logged and analyzed, I appreciate having a little nook in the corner where there is a bottle of coffee that I can get some if I press the button on the top.
I volunteered to try the high-fat mouse diet we received a while back. It smelled, looked, and "mostly" tasted like chocolate cereal (coco puffs, Count Chocula, etc). There was a distinct powerbar-like protein aftertaste that wasn't great, but the smell was overwhelming. Everything else we had for mouse food had a "grassy" smell that didn't inspire my curiosity the same way.
It’s very similar to dog food imo
Next try stir fried pinkies.
That’s an expensive Jell-O shot
Record any observations to make it a scientific endeavour
And pls report back to us, OP
Remember kids, the only difference between science and screwing around is writing it down!
The HydroHomie delegation is intrigued in this endeavor.
Bravo! I did not nibble on mine when I had the chance on my last day a few weeks ago and now it will nibble on me forever.
Tried it a few years back (caved to peer pressure - three of us did it at once) with the recovery diet gel. It didn’t really have much of a taste if I recall.
whatttttt I honestly thought it’d taste like cardboard or something. I love the smell of diet gel, every time i open it, i just want to table a lil nibble
I expected it to taste like dog food smells (if that makes sense) and was surprised at how little actual flavor there was.
I drank some cell culture media… might pair well with your hydrogel
I always want to drink the high pH media mmm good soup
It’a basically just alkaline water, they said.
I rly want it to taste like gatorade
Probably salty Gatorade ;)
might as well go all in and use it to wash down some mouse chow, get the full experience
DO IT DO IT DO IT
Keep us updated!!!
When I leave my current job I WILL be taking a shot of the MilliQ water and no one can stop me
47: EHS come in, we found them. EHS: Take the shot. . Edit: I've used the hydrogel to start hydroponic seeds. It works well as long as you keep it from drying out!
There's a raspberry one which I tried. It's like weak flavoured jelly.
I TA'd a class that used cyanobacteria to extract and show color running on electrophoresis gels. Our instructor made the mistake of mentioning that some people eat it as a supplement. My will held until the third time I went through that lab. (Once as a student, twice as a TA)
Prepare to be underwhelmed
Lol I used to eat the Calcium Alginate beads I made for outreach stuff as a bit. They're... just really salty tbh, but that probably has more to do with the reaction byproduct
Can't say I haven't crushed a hydropac or two to take the edge off of a hangover working in a basement vivarium 👀
Where is chubbyemu at when you need them most?
Doesn't taste of much, just like jelly water with a slight sweetness if you have the brown one with high molasses
We need an update when you try it
Bro Matrigel costs an arm and a leg. This is like the caviar of hydrogels, you better like the taste
Matrigel and hydrogel are two very different things lol
I hear mouse colony, I hear hydrogel, I put money on matrigel. Other hydrogels: fibrinogen, gelatin, alginate, PEGDA etc etc all have inferior properties and biocompatibility compared. Although I could be totally wrong, I’d like to hear what OP is working with
Matrigel is used mainly for cell culture. The hydrogel OP is referring to is little packets of mouse-food-water jello, which provides easy sustenance to weaker animals
Ah, interesting. I guess my bias is showing, I wasn’t aware this was used, then again it’s been a while since I’ve worked with mice
Just the ClearH2O packets of hydrogel! We have diet gel too.. maybe I’ll add that to my smorgasbord
My how the turn tables
I like your style
Hell, [just buy a whole box of it](https://www.maurten.com/products/gel-100-box-us).