Molecular Bio tips?

[Ihave Nonamè]

This professor really prioritizes molecular bio experiments and techniques. I am great with molecular bio concepts but the experiments are not at all intuitive to me. To add, this professor does not spend much time discussing these experiments. We are meant to learn it on our own (and this is not a lab class so I do not have the opportunity for hands-on practice). Do you have any suggestions, methods or resources that might be helpful for understanding and interpreting a variety of molecular bio lab results?

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[WaterFlow]

This professor really prioritizes molecular bio experiments and techniques. I am great with molecular bio concepts but the experiments are not at all intuitive to me. To add, this professor does not spend much time discussing these experiments. We are meant to learn it on our own (and this is not a lab class so I do not have the opportunity for hands-on practice). Do you have any suggestions, methods or resources that might be helpful for understanding and interpreting a variety of molecular bio lab results?

For interpreting lab results, you can try and find resources on the internet. Youtube may have some good video explanations.
Also, you can try asking some of your classmates for assistance.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Read papers.

 

[vrazzles]

Basic Methods in Cellular and Molecular Biology

...Read More...

www.jove.com

 

[Goro]

This professor really prioritizes molecular bio experiments and techniques. I am great with molecular bio concepts but the experiments are not at all intuitive to me. To add, this professor does not spend much time discussing these experiments. We are meant to learn it on our own (and this is not a lab class so I do not have the opportunity for hands-on practice). Do you have any suggestions, methods or resources that might be helpful for understanding and interpreting a variety of molecular bio lab results?

Youtube.
Call the companies that make your reagents and ask if they have anything helpful on their websites
Read the literature, especially what the professor has published.
You ARE going to have to learn by doing.

 

[Styrene]

Do you know which lab techniques are to be tested? If so, just Google it. That's what I did. There are also very comprehensive handbooks out there that describe molecular biology laboratory techniques and interpretation.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

Do you know which lab techniques are to be tested? If so, just Google it. That's what I did. There are also very comprehensive handbooks out there that describe molecular biology laboratory techniques and interpretation.

ChIP, EMSA, DNA footprinting, Reporter Gene Assay, NSW blotting, Gro-seq, Run-off Assay, etc etc...She does not discuss these experiments in detail - she seems to believe that most of us are already familiar with these. Frankly, in previous classes, all we had ever learned was PCR. So merely skimming through all of these is not enough. Her exams include a lot of experiment results that we are supposed to analyze. One TA horribly misled several of us when it came to understanding the results for one experiment so I don't feel I can trust the TAs (fortunately the prof gave these points back to the class).

I seem to be better off than many others in the class so I wouldn't trust their answers. I'm hesitant to ask her to describe some of these experiments in better detail because currently she thinks I'm a very capable student and has made comments here and there along those lines.

 

[WaterFlow]

ChIP, EMSA, DNA footprinting, Reporter Gene Assay, NSW blotting, Gro-seq, Run-off Assay, etc etc...She does not discuss these experiments in detail - she seems to believe that most of us are already familiar with these. Frankly, in previous classes, all we had ever learned was PCR. So merely skimming through all of these is not enough. Her exams include a lot of experiment results that we are supposed to analyze. One TA horribly misled several of us when it came to understanding the results for one experiment so I don't feel I can trust the TAs (fortunately the prof gave these points back to the class).

I seem to be better off than many others in the class so I wouldn't trust their answers. I'm hesitant to ask her to describe some of these experiments in better detail because currently she thinks I'm a very capable student and has made comments here and there along those lines.

You can read papers about all these techniques. Reading these papers should help you.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

You can read papers about all these techniques. Reading these papers should help you.

The results/images of most papers don't cater to novices. The authors make the assumption that the readers have background in the experiments already, and typically they do.

 

[WaterFlow]

The results/images of most papers don't cater to novices. The authors make the assumption that the readers have background in the experiments already, and typically they do.

Consider buying the book "Fundamental Molecular Biology" I recall one of the chapters did a nice job of explaining several of the techniques you mentioned above. We used it for one of my classes. I also referred to the other chapters when I reviewed for the mcat.

Also, if you read enough papers and refer to the results section and connect the results to the figures you should be able to figure out how to interpret the figures. This is an essential skill for the mcat.

 

[Styrene]

Consider buying the book "Fundamental Molecular Biology" I recall one of the chapters did a nice job of explaining several of the techniques you mentioned above. We used it for one of my classes. I also referred to the other chapters when I reviewed for the mcat.

Also, if you read enough papers and refer to the results section and connect the results to the figures you should be able to figure out how to interpret the figures. This is an essential skill for the mcat.

I would second that. There are also others out there. Really any comprehensive textbook or lab technique manual.