...mentorship is by recruiting your own peers and classmates! Your mentors don’t need to be more senior or...that there’s some correct level of intimacy that creates the magic of a safe space. No matter why, now is...roles but for almost every position, we look for candidates that have demonstrated initiative. In fact, hear...opportunity to act or take charge before others do”. Candidates who have “started something” which they can share...have a definite advantage in our process. We see candidates who have done the following types of things: ... a character count in your head.  Here are some sites that have compiled lists of grants: Science: ...

...“PCR test” has recently transitioned from jargon to non-jargon in the context of disease testing, it can...other uses. Many laypeople would use “PCR test” to mean “a test that uses a biological sample to look for...presence of a virus.” A scientist would likely mean “a test for the presence or absence of a predefined DNA ...Science to Elementary and Middle Schools   Image courtesy of Ron Mader, via Flickr, under the Creative Commons...

...broth and on the agar plates. Mycoplasma colonies are easily visible on the agar plates. This method is capable... to poor lab techniques. These include reusing pipettes for multiple cell lines rather than using disposable...always use a second assay to be 100% sure. Before testing for mycoplasma, the cells should be in continuous... for low levels of contaminations to grow. For testing, the medium should not have been changed for at... (Uphoff and Drexler, 2011). Culturing on agar plates/broth is considered the ‘gold standard’ for detecting... are tightly packed with seals. Use disposable pipettes to avoid cross-contamination. Make sure you keep...

...way to re-create a functional virus. Indeed, by testing several vectors and packaging cell line combinations...proto-oncogenes or with human samples that have not been tested for HIV.  If not using proper technique, there’... from the LTRs) has been removed, Rev (which facilitates nuclear export) is expressed from a separate ...by your transfer vector) binds to the TRE and activates the expression of your gene. The addition of Dox...virus precipitation. My tip for this process is to test several protocols that have been described (protocol...viral capsid antigen p24, the FACS dosing method correlates viral titre to the number of cells transduced...ratio of virus to cells). Again, my tip here is to test several protocols as the set-up depends on the type...

... scores. That player doesn’t trust his teammates; the teammates don’t trust him. This team is not going...includes: Michelle, the Senior Scientist who coordinates all kit creation and quality control efforts ...informed decision about something? Fix a problem? Test a hypothesis? Whether you officially call it a “...I’m an introvert!” is not an excuse. Every psych test I’ve ever taken has declared me an introvert, and...academic labs, uses Slack constantly. Whether your teammates are two desks away or on the other side of the...perfectly clear lines of communication, but if teammates don’t trust each other, none of that matters. ...

...majority of research institutes.  Pro tip! In most academic and nonprofit institutes, the Tech Transfer ... signatures from two different institutes. Our online portal automates a lot of the process, from notifications...  An MTA is simply a contract or agreement that states the terms of use for a tangible research material...people think our MTAs are different than other institutes. But they’re not! The vast majority of our plasmids...

...the reporter mRNA, which contains the tethering sites for the fluorescent proteins and is driven by an... copies of the PP7 and MS2 coat protein binding sites to tether many copies of the FP-coat protein fusions...NLS-PCP-GFP is removed by the first ribosome that translates the mRNA. To permit tracking over time, Yan et...Each time the reporter is translated, the SunTag sites on the nascent polypeptide recruit scFV-GFP, generating...translation in various cell types and physiological states. References 1. Ingolia, Nicholas T., et al. “Genome-wide...SunTag Catch up on Your GFP Background Choose the Brightest Fluorescent Protein Resources on Addgene.org ...

...and not exposed to CO2/dry ice. All samples were tested in duplicate. What we found Not all tubes (or ...) were permeable to CO2 at low temperatures. We tested two different types of tubes: the ones we use to...shown). What we did next: Venting the tubes We then tested whether venting the tubes prior to thaw released...What about putting it back in the freezer? We then tested whether returning the tubes to the -80°C freezer...would prevent the pH change upon thaw (Fig.4). To test this, we froze the tubes at -80°C and then moved...affects AAV function. Furthermore, another study tested AAV infectivity after a range of pH exposures. ...

...yield, and when transiently expressed in cells, generates much less signal than comparable fluorescent proteins... very similar to the widely used FRET, but it eliminates the need for an excitation light source. Instead...multiple subcellular compartments over several minutes using Nano-lantern fusion proteins. To further ...continuously imaged cells for about 4 hours! The latest enhanced Nano-lanterns (eNL) described in Suzuki...fluorescent imaging! These eNL constructs use the brightest characterized luciferase, NanoLuc, and its substrate.... Filtering the emission wavelength partially separates the signals of various Nano-lanterns, but it does...

...Why do scientists use yeast vectors? Yeast are eukaryotes and thus contain complex internal cell structures...technical advantages that come with working with prokaryotes. This includes but is not limited to: rapid growth... selection when working with yeast, due to high rates of spontaneously occuring resistant mutants and ...complementation is weak. yes   LYS2 L-lysine yes - Grow on plates containing alpha-aminoadipate in the absence of...physiological levels due to high copy numbers. This creates a potential metabolic burden on the yeast cells...markers. The MX series of antibiotic resistance cassettes is most commonly employed, with the KanMX being...

...microscopy, a metal disk containing a number of holes rotates through the excitation light path. Each hole corresponds...happen.Using red light has a second advantage: red light penetrates deeper into biological tissue. To prove this,... create a thin sheet of excitation light that propagates perpendicular to an imaging objective that collects...into the sample via an evanescent wave that only excites fluorophores within a few hundred nanometers of...Fluorescence (TIRF) microscope can be used. TIRF only excites fluorophores within a few hundred nanometers of... pixel by pixel are unable to provide the frame-rates necessary for imaging tissues of this size. For ...Fluorescent Proteins for Multi-Color Imaging Choose the Brightest Fluorescent Protein for Your Experiments Resources...

...a substrate promoting dimerization, Tang et al. tested pairs of their GFP-binding proteins (GBPs) to find...Transcriptional Devices Dependent On GFP). In testing the specificity of their system, Tang et al. found...was absent without electroporated GFP. They then tested T-DDOGs with two mouse GFP reporter lines; again... activation frequency of 56-93%. In the converse test, 98% of TdTomato expressing cells were GFP+, indicating...recombinase, which induces recombination at LoxP sites. Placing a lox-STOP-lox cassette upstream of a gene...T-DDOGs, Cre-DOG is both robust and specific. When tested in retinal electroporation studies, DsRed reporter...

...autoinflammatory loop: keratinocytes both respond to and release IL-36 cytokines. Keratinocytes are the main source...cytokine family resulting in the activation of keratinocytes, which release inflammatory mediators that trigger...known how IL-36 cytokines actually get out of keratinocytes and induce their effector functions. It’s an...important to study what is happening within the keratinocytes. “We hope to use CRISPR libraries from Addgene...or proteins are involved in IL-36 release in keratinocytes,” says Mellett. This would help the lab identify...

...’s not, I can always take more time to check my notes!  Know your purpose The purpose of our assignment...assignment was clear: present a paper to our classmates so they could understand it. When my mind went blank,...gene of interest incorrectly on slides 8-16. Your notes disappear. The wrong version of your slide deck ...simple as telling yourself, “I can stop and check my notes if I need to,” or “It is okay if it doesn’t go perfectly... field, with very little text on the slides and notes instead of written speeches. When you’re doing all...speak at conferences, or even just provide quick updates during a company meeting increases visibility of...

...and MEK1 is active or “on.” Dronpa’s color thus indicates MEK1’s current state (Green when off, dark when...photoswitchable Dronpa domains were inserted at sites homologous to the locations they were attached to... a few examples demonstrated in Zhou et al. 1. Testing kinase inhibitors Zhou et al examined the ability...indicator of MEK1 activity. When MEK1 is active, it phosphorylates the ERK KTR and red fluorescence localizes ... fluorescence can be found in the nucleus. For testing kinase inhibitors, psMEK1 and ERK KTR-mRuby2 expressing...blot. Phosphorylation of MEK1/2 peaks at just 5 minutes post-Raf1 inactivation, and then decreases. Treatment...

...technical writing and communication skills, Elucidates the big picture and future directions of the ...milestones, possible setbacks, and potential alternative routes, Provides opportunities to convince others why...It typically includes overview information, key dates, funding description, research plan, award information...institution. Moreover, avoidance of ‘to be’ verbs creates strong, well-directed meaning and delivers strength...section. Research challenge The Research Challenge motivates the request for application and offers an opportunity...reaching, remember that you are writing a proposal to test hypotheses and develop novel technologies! If data...

...an additional 5–10 minutes of incubation at 37 °C. Wash the membrane for 5–10 minutes 2–3x in fresh wash...solution and agitate for 30–45 minutes at 50 °C. Wash the membrane for 5–10 minutes 2–6x in fresh wash buffer...respectively. Chromogenic detection produces colored precipitates that permanently stain the membrane, making ...membrane in stripping solution and agitate for 5–30 minutes at room temperature. The incubation time will depend...

...proteins that cause rare diseases. They now plan to test a large number of other disease-linked Arg-mutant...Engineering the human disease alleles into cells for testing in the lab will be greatly facilitated by CRISPR...Baldwin, Enoch, et al. "Generation of ligand binding sites in T4 lysozyme by deficiency-creating substitutions...function. They will then mutagenize the NFIX gene and test whether variants of unknown significance (VUSs) ...) that are frequently found in genetic testing for syndromes that include developmental delay, result ...dominant negative NFIX phenotypes. Developing a rapid test for the functional activity of VUSs will enable ...

...that blood flows through the heart and lungs and oxygenates the body. However, in neuroscience, this architecture... between neurons are what define how the brain operates, and thus, are a major part of the answer to many...infects one cell (the “starter cell”). It then replicates within that cell, and nascent RABV cross synapses...necessary and sufficient for retrograde transmission (Etessami et al., 2000, Wickersham et al., 2007). Thus, ...answers to the complex questions of how the brain operates. References 1. Callaway EM. Transneuronal Circuit...Mar 19;110(12):E1152-61 Pubmed PMID 23487772. 3. Etessami R, Conzelmann KK, Fadai-Ghotbi B, Natelson B, ...

...So, when DNMT1 methylates the genome during DNA replication, it doesn’t methylate sites blocked by dCas9...disease: cancer (Feinberg & Vogelstein 1983). The floodgates, as they say, had opened.  In 2021,  with over...these studies report correlations without clearly testing whether a certain methylation state causes a condition... we need tools to specifically edit methylation sites.  Step aside, transcriptionally active dioxygenase...independent of dCas9 targeting, including modifying other sites in the genome and directly interacting with transcription...