Topic: Something new - biology / genomics / genetics / molecular bio questions answered - page 2. (Read 1733 times)
February 27, 2013, 05:18:51 AM
Do you think erk phosphorylation will change if someone sneezes in the next room over?
February 27, 2013, 03:14:36 AM
Costs of reagents - it was always amazing for me how much this stuff can cost. Anything more inert than water starts to cost hundreds of dollars. Even water has to be bought and costs maybe 10 - 20 dollars per 50 mL bottle. But some of the prices beat prices even for best perfumes ($ per volume).
cell culture media - ~30 - 40 $ for 500 mL (~ 1 pint)
restriction enzymes - ~ 100 $ per 0.05 mL (0.001690701 US oz)
specific antibody solution - $375 for 0.1 mL (0.033814 US oz)
LIF factor (for cell culture) - $1000 for 1 mL (0.33814 US oz)
DNA oligonucleotide ~ 20 nt long - 3 - 5$
RNA oligonucleotide ~ 30 nt long with modifications - 300 - 500$
oligonucleotide library synthesis (22k different probes) - 3000$ ( that was 2010)
cell culture media - ~30 - 40 $ for 500 mL (~ 1 pint)
restriction enzymes - ~ 100 $ per 0.05 mL (0.001690701 US oz)
specific antibody solution - $375 for 0.1 mL (0.033814 US oz)
LIF factor (for cell culture) - $1000 for 1 mL (0.33814 US oz)
DNA oligonucleotide ~ 20 nt long - 3 - 5$
RNA oligonucleotide ~ 30 nt long with modifications - 300 - 500$
oligonucleotide library synthesis (22k different probes) - 3000$ ( that was 2010)
February 27, 2013, 02:57:41 AM
How does my work day look like??
My lab is dirty and old. The pristine labs from some University brochures are exact opposite of ours. But people do work in our lab non-stop and it is hard to maintain order since there are so many things to do and we hate to waste time.
Noone dust shelves which are littered with bottles for chemicals and our own labmade buffers. There are instruments everywhere. Most of them are not really high-tech, like simple lab shakers or rotators, but they are sold to us for a premium from biotech companies. If you are in stock market go and buy one. There is also some expensive equipment for sequencing sold for even more. But the work looks fairly simple, using special pipette and disposable tips you are transferring exact amounts of clear liquids to a tube. Mix it and...
And absolutely nothing visible happens... However on the molecular level you are amplifying DNA or using enzyme you are constructing a RNA molecule step by step, nucleotide by nucleotide with exact sequence as its DNA counterpart. Everything in the nanometer scale. With pretty good accuracy... This is molecular biology.
But I digress. You work long hours, or very odd hours. During the day the lab is full of people doing similar stuff to you. At night it is a bit easier to work and focus. There is some comradery among the people.
Ok, let me know if you want more of this. Or more details. Or more whatever
My lab is dirty and old. The pristine labs from some University brochures are exact opposite of ours. But people do work in our lab non-stop and it is hard to maintain order since there are so many things to do and we hate to waste time.
Noone dust shelves which are littered with bottles for chemicals and our own labmade buffers. There are instruments everywhere. Most of them are not really high-tech, like simple lab shakers or rotators, but they are sold to us for a premium from biotech companies. If you are in stock market go and buy one. There is also some expensive equipment for sequencing sold for even more. But the work looks fairly simple, using special pipette and disposable tips you are transferring exact amounts of clear liquids to a tube. Mix it and...
And absolutely nothing visible happens... However on the molecular level you are amplifying DNA or using enzyme you are constructing a RNA molecule step by step, nucleotide by nucleotide with exact sequence as its DNA counterpart. Everything in the nanometer scale. With pretty good accuracy... This is molecular biology.
But I digress. You work long hours, or very odd hours. During the day the lab is full of people doing similar stuff to you. At night it is a bit easier to work and focus. There is some comradery among the people.
Ok, let me know if you want more of this. Or more details. Or more whatever
February 27, 2013, 02:44:14 AM
Simple idea: since there are many intelligent people in this crowd, I bet many of you are curious about stuff in the subject.
Biotechnology and genomics is a new cool thing and you can see many reports in media about it. What is common to those reports is lack of depth. Also biological knowledge has exploded, especially recently, so it is hard to grasp what is it all about without specialised knowledge.
I want to answer your questions and keep this thread interesting and entertaining. Fun to read, that's the main goal.
I am working in the lab, I am a graduate student and have been doing molecular biology research since 2002. I am an enthusiast of the topic, so my knowledge is sufficiently broad, I think.
--
The answers are for free. However I accept donations, since grad students are not paid so well...
16a1YmEJwR3vZXdKAq65QANMYBdzTGCgiE
Biotechnology and genomics is a new cool thing and you can see many reports in media about it. What is common to those reports is lack of depth. Also biological knowledge has exploded, especially recently, so it is hard to grasp what is it all about without specialised knowledge.
I want to answer your questions and keep this thread interesting and entertaining. Fun to read, that's the main goal.
I am working in the lab, I am a graduate student and have been doing molecular biology research since 2002. I am an enthusiast of the topic, so my knowledge is sufficiently broad, I think.
--
The answers are for free. However I accept donations, since grad students are not paid so well...
16a1YmEJwR3vZXdKAq65QANMYBdzTGCgiE
Jump to: