Linda Moore and Bobbie Kopotic, both of whom have worked in the lab for more than nine years, make up the rest of the lab team. Operation of the lab is a model of teamwork, cooperation, routine, and precision. It takes approximately 10 days from the time the lab receives blood samples from a subject until the final report on those samples is prepared. The process begins when three tubes of blood from a subject are received. The samples are logged in and given a discrete identification number that remains with the sample throughout the process.
Blood samples arrive by overnight delivery, or are drawn at the lab.
The laboratory procedure begins within 24 hours after the samples are received. Blood samples and the flat-Bottom microliter plates are labeled to track the sample during the lab procedure. Each blood sample is carefully layered onto a clear dense liquid called Histopaque in a centrifuge tube. Histopaque is not quite as dense as red blood cells, but is denser than the white blood cells needed for the test. When the sample is centrifuged, red blood cells collect under the fluid and the needed white cells mononuclear lymphocytes form a layer on top of the Histopaque.