florescence on cells that must remain sterile

[lbrown]

Hello all,
I have a faculty member that has grown cells in a 6 well dish. She has transfected GFP labeled siRNA and wants to do florescence to see if the transfection worked. I couldn't see the cells through the 6 well dish. I thought the distance between the objective all the way to the cells (shooting light through the top plate, through the media to the cells). So I took the media out and inverted the 6 well dish, trying to get the eyepiece closer to the cells, but still saw nothing. Is the working distance too far? How do people to florescence on cells they need to remain sterile?

Lola

[Rene]

I think u r not using the correct microscope. U should use an inverted microscope.