Dear all,

Sorry for an extremely off-topic question, but I thought this would be the best place to find an answer.

We are setting up our protein crystallography lab and have been asked to share laboratory space with an organic chemistry group which is already well established in the room. The room is spacious and nice so we want to make use of it. Although the organic chemistry lab is well-maintained, all reactions being carried out in fume hoods, proper disposal of solvents etc., a person like me who has rarely visited an organic chemistry lab can immediately get distinct smell of solvents after entering the lab. My questions are: is it advisable to set up the protein crystallization facility in such a laboratory? How badly can solvent fumes affect proteins, crystallization plates, the microscope and the crystallization process? We are supposed to put our FPLC also in the same room and are worried about that too.

Any suggestion / advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Uma.

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Uma Katre,
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry,
Auburn University,
Auburn, AL, USA.