Thanks for all of the great questions! We’re addressing three questions each month, so If you don’t see your question this time, keep an eye out for our future issues where it will likely show up! Send your questions to [email protected].[Continue Reading…]
Starting a Family, Finding a Job and Managing Your Boss
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Should Your Beaker be Half-Empty or Half-Full?
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At some point in our careers we have likely worked with a King Midas- a person for whom experiments just always seem to work. They tend to have an outlook that experiments should work and they seem genuinely shocked when they fail. We’ve probably also worked with a colleague who assumes the natural state of the universe is failure, and thus sees an unsuccessful experiment as par for the course. But is one a better scientist than the other?
Tetrahymena: Little Creature, Big Discoveries
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You probably didn’t notice, but if you’ve ever dipped a toe into a pond, or swam in a stream, you would have bumped into this furry looking microscopic creature called Tetrahymena. This fresh water inhabitant may be small and single celled, but it has played a huge role in discoveries that contributed to our understanding of the fundamental principles of eukaryotic biology.
We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Lab: Large Animal Models in Research
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The main large animal models used for biomedical research are domesticated livestock species, such as cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and occasionally horses. This section will not cover primate models, or companion animals such as dogs and cats, which although are “large animals” have their unique set of attributes and issues as animal models. Large animal models are not as widely used as mice, flies, or nematodes. One reason for this is the obvious need for space to maintain these animals.
The Almighty Fungi: The Revolutionary Neurospora crassa
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“This brief paper, revolutionary in both its methods and its findings, changed the genetic landscape for all time”.
This is how Norman Horowitz started a historical account celebrating the 50th anniversary of the landmark paper by Beadle and Tatum, published in 1941(Horowitz 1991). This work with the filamentous ascomycete fungus Neurospora crassa (Beadle and Tatum 1941), started off a series of important breakthroughs that brought the fields of biochemistry and genetics together and initiated a revolution: the explosive development of biochemical genetics and molecular biology. Undeniably, the one-to-one relationship between genes and enzymes (the “one gene, one enzyme” hypothesis), a concept derived from this and follow-up work, had a tremendous impact on biology.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae a.k.a Budding/Baker’s/Brewer’s Yeast
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Yeast, specifically Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have had a tremendous impact on not only the scientific community but on the greater world. The initial scientific studies in yeast lead to the birth of modern chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry. Also, the next time you enjoy an ice cold beer or savor a delicious piece of bread, thank these little guys for their many contributions to the world.
Does Anyone Still Read Entire Journals?
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Believe it or not, it wasn’t long ago that reading the literature required hours spent in the library- navigating chem abstracts, printing citations, locating journals and (finally) reading articles. An easier way to keep up in those days was just to regularly thumb through a handful of relevant journals as the new issues were released. We’ve come a long ways since those days and the internet has certainly changed the way we monitor and read the literature.
An Ingenious Solution for Monitoring Reaction Progress
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Despite it’s importance, reaction monitoring can be lax, in part because of the hassle of getting into a sealed round-bottom in the middle of a reaction. We have to unclamp, flip-up septum, re-clamp, remove septum, take sample, replace septum, unclamp, seal septum, reclamp then get on with the TLC. After all that work, it’s time for a nap…
Switching Careers? Try the Sampler Platter: Internships
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Many of us know what it’s like to sit at the bench and dream of what else is out there. Maybe it’s industrial experience that intrigues us, maybe it’s something far more removed from the lab. In either case, the idea of taking a chance and diving in to a new career can be terrifying. What if we don’t like it? Are we giving up everything we’ve worked for on a whim? Who would hire us with no experience? The overwhelming feeling of uncertainty can be paralyzing and ultimately, prevent many of us from finding our true calling.
LabLibs: The Passive-Aggressive Instrument Note
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It’s the bedrock of the modern workplace. It’s the piece of paper that instantly annoys the reader. It’s the communication style that really isn’t communication. Ah, the passive-aggressive note. If we can’t beat ’em- well, you know the rest…
