Tangerine Dream and an eyelash on a cocktail stick revealed as secrets of science success

GERMAN electronica, eyelashes stuck on cocktail sticks and 1.5 million fruit flies are the secret weapons of one of Britain’s largest scientific centres, it has emerged.

The Francis Crick Institute in London is at the cutting edge of research into cancer, Alzheimer’s and genetic engineering.

Now “the Crick” is flinging open its doors to disclose the unusual goingson of its technicians for a new free exhibition into the unseen side of science.

Down in the fly facility, supervisor Joachim Kurt has the job of injecting altered DNA into the tiny embryos of thousands of insects.

The secret of his steady hand is Tangerine Dream, the Seventies electronic band, which the lab has determined, after several trials listening to different genres, is the most effective music for focusing the mind while engaged in meticulous genetic tinkering.

The technicians feed and breed 1.5 million fruit flies every year, from 15,000 different families, inserting and removing DNA to work out what is happening in the genetic code, and how it might help them understand human disease.

Elsewhere, specialists in the microscopy department have worked out a new method of manipulating ultra-thin biological samples which must be arranged on the surface of a water droplet before they can be studied. The samples are so delicate that the team use a single eyelash glued to a cocktail stick to poke them gently into position.

Technicians at The Crick also “care” for billions of cancer cells, keeping them alive and healthy so they can be used in experiments that could one day lead to cures.

And more than 750,000 flasks, test-tubes and beakers must be cleaned each year by the world’s best bottle washers. Even a microscopic bit of dirt could skew an experiment.

Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute, said: “I began my scientific life as a 17-year-old laboratory technician so I really understand what they contribute to research.

“Engineers, technicians and other research specialists make up a significant part of our workforce, and without them the science we do here would be impossible.”

Emily Scott-dearing, the exhibition’s curator, said: “The scale and pace of operation here can simply take your breath away. They are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, but equally the innovation can be very low tech.”

Craft & Graft: Making Science Happen, from March 1 until November 30 at The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1