Anybody else get excited about learning a new molecular biology technique?

[seraph524]

I know I do!

I just did my first western blot today, and it was pretty cool! Yea, I know I'm behind in learning research techniques... I can't wait to see my rotation PI's face when I tell them I have never done PCR before

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[marctam86]

westerns!

how i hate the smell of b-mercaptoethanol!

 

[LunderKind]

how i hate the smell of b-mercaptoethanol!

no kidding...TEMED and DTT too!

i'm going to do my first IP soon...i'll have to admit i'm a little scared due to the cost and time that is going into collecting the necessary sample. it's going to take about four weeks just to get enough cells.

 

[sweetlife]

dude, i get so excited. I am learning LOH right now and its so exciting. I'd love to be there to see your PI's face when he/she finds out you've never done pcr.

 

[sternum17]

I think the worst smell of all is a big, juicy, litre of E. coli LB culture. "YEESH, light a bunsen burner!"

 

[j-weezy]

I think the worst smell of all is a big, juicy, litre of E. coli LB culture. "YEESH, light a bunsen burner!"

yeah, ones that have been fermenting over night...yum

you do get accustomed to the smell though - I hardly notice it anymore except when...

storytime: grad student in the lab was hungover and DROPPED a 1L flask full of e. coli - had to get help to clean it up and the whole time people were like "it smells like a$$ in here!!!"

 

[Neuronix]

Ugh, I hate doing molecular biology. Good old cookbook science. Here's your recipe for a Western, DO IT EXACTLY LIKE THIS OR IT WILL FAIL. REPEAT UNTIL PhD OBTAINED.

*ducks from the flames of 95% of the MD/PhDs doing molecular biology*

 

[Inuranic]

westerns!

how i hate the smell of b-mercaptoethanol!

I love that smell.

I took a big ole' sniff of it just for the giggle factor, and couldn't get the odor out of my nose. It was a wonderful afternoon...

 

[sternum17]

yeah, ones that have been fermenting over night...yum

you do get accustomed to the smell though - I hardly notice it anymore except when...

storytime: grad student in the lab was hungover and DROPPED a 1L flask full of e. coli - had to get help to clean it up and the whole time people were like "it smells like a$$ in here!!!"

I still haven't gotten used to it. But yeah, that's pretty bad. I've also heard of someone mouth pipetting a culture and getting a mouthful.

(Something tells me this might lead to a long discussion about mouth pipetting . . . I can't wait)

 

[Inuranic]

I still haven't gotten used to it. But yeah, that's pretty bad. I've also heard of someone mouth pipetting a culture and getting a mouthful.

(Something tells me this might lead to a long discussion about mouth pipetting . . . I can't wait)

MOUTH PIPETTING! I love that technique. I plan on demanding that all my future PIs allow me to do it.

 

[j-weezy]

I still haven't gotten used to it. But yeah, that's pretty bad. I've also heard of someone mouth pipetting a culture and getting a mouthful.

(Something tells me this might lead to a long discussion about mouth pipetting . . . I can't wait)

Sounds like a great way to get an infection

 

[sternum17]

MOUTH PIPETTING! I love that technique. I plan on demanding that all my future PIs allow me to do it.

Personally, I prefer nose pipetting. That way you can do two at a time!

 

[seraph524]

Sounds like a great way to get an infection

is that why i seem to have a throat/sinus infection right now

 

[sweetlife]

ewwee. I didn't know people actually did that. I mean I saw it in the safety video like freshman year, but really?? I might have to try it.

I HATE the smell of LB. I used to work in a lab that did work with e.coli. The smell is so distinct that when I am in my new lab, I can smell it from across the lab. YUCK!! Thankfully, we rarely work with LB.

 

[Jorje286]

Ugh, I hate doing molecular biology. Good old cookbook science. Here's your recipe for a Western, DO IT EXACTLY LIKE THIS OR IT WILL FAIL. REPEAT UNTIL PhD OBTAINED.

*ducks from the flames of 95% of the MD/PhDs doing molecular biology*

Agreed here. Pipetting, blotting, culturing and all that crap never appealed to me. It also doesn't help that I'm quite awkward with them.

 

[sternum17]

ewwee. I didn't know people actually did that. I mean I saw it in the safety video like freshman year, but really?? I might have to try it.

I HATE the smell of LB. I used to work in a lab that did work with e.coli. The smell is so distinct that when I am in my new lab, I can smell it from across the lab. YUCK!! Thankfully, we rarely work with LB.

It used to be common practice. Not any more, what with the pipette guns. I don't really mind the smell of LB - it's the smell of a turbid E. coli culture in LB that I can't stand.

In my lab we grow a lot of Lactococcus lactis, which smells nice and cheesy.

 

[Inuranic]

It used to be common practice. Not any more, what with the pipette guns. I don't really mind the smell of LB - it's the smell of a turbid E. coli culture in LB that I can't stand.

In my lab we grow a lot of Lactococcus lactis, which smells nice and cheesy.

LB doesn't smell bad at all. Stupid E. coli, wrecking all that wonderful media...

 

[j-weezy]

It used to be common practice. Not any more, what with the pipette guns. I don't really mind the smell of LB - it's the smell of a turbid E. coli culture in LB that I can't stand.

In my lab we grow a lot of Lactococcus lactis, which smells nice and cheesy.

what do you use L.l. for? My lab uses a particular protein from L. lactis...but we have it on a plasmid to grow up in E. coli

 

[sternum17]

what do you use L.l. for? My lab uses a particular protein from L. lactis...but we have it on a plasmid to grow up in E. coli

Mostly for evolutionary studies on the group II intron Ll.LtrB. We're also trying to use it as a vaccine vector. What protein is it?

 

[j-weezy]

Mostly for evolutionary studies on the group II intron Ll.LtrB. We're also trying to use it as a vaccine vector. What protein is it?

science is such a small world

 

[sweetlife]

It used to be common practice. Not any more, what with the pipette guns. I don't really mind the smell of LB - it's the smell of a turbid E. coli culture in LB that I can't stand.

In my lab we grow a lot of Lactococcus lactis, which smells nice and cheesy.

yeah, I guess I should have said LB w/ E. coli in it. Plain old LB isn't too bad, unless it gets burnt. Don't ask me how, but somebody did that recently in my lab and it stunk!

The lab I worked use E. coli for a vaccine delivery system. TONS of e. coli was grown there.

 

[seraph524]

If you lyse an E.Coli, does it not feel pain? Does it not hurt? Does it not suffer? Think about its family! (all 7 billion of them!)





Just being silly.

 

[j-weezy]

If you lyse an E.Coli, does it not feel pain? Does it not hurt? Does it not suffer? Think about its family! (all 7 billion of them!)





Just being silly.

 

[sternum17]

yeah, I guess I should have said LB w/ E. coli in it. Plain old LB isn't too bad, unless it gets burnt. Don't ask me how, but somebody did that recently in my lab and it stunk!

The lab I worked use E. coli for a vaccine delivery system. TONS of e. coli was grown there.

I once left a litre of LB-agar in an autoclave overnight. It turned into this pinkish-black sticky mass at the bottom of the erlenmeyer. It took all morning to clean.

 

[jsg1985]

I have to agree with TEMED smell. It smells like rotten fish (being vegetarian it just shuts down my appetite).

I got excited yesterday as I was doing my first RNA lab-on-chip (Agilent Bioanalyzer). I can not wait till Monday. I will be starting my first DNA Microarray....

 

[sweetlife]

I have to agree with TEMED smell. It smells like rotten fish (being vegetarian it just shuts down my appetite).

I got excited yesterday as I was doing my first RNA lab-on-chip (Agilent Bioanalyzer). I can not wait till Monday. I will be starting my first DNA Microarray....

I do that too! It was a thrilling day to complete my first aCGH and Affy microarray. I hate the Bioanalyzer. Bloooows. Its so touchy.

 

[GWD]

Hopefully most of us do, or we wouldn't be doing what we are doing

My PI has a bad habit of just dropping things in my lap out of nowhere though. I guess she figures I need to learn to deal with the pressure.

Take for instance the $3500 Luminex 30-plex she asked me to do the other day because she needed some emergency prelim data for a grant proposal. Having never used the Luminex system before, let alone a 30-plex, it seemed like a lot of money to entrust an inexperienced student with...

But yeah, as long as you don't **** up, learning new techniques is the shiz!

 

[MNIkid87]

DNA transfection made my life complete....like...I can die now