Dear Rats,

Have anyone tried using their service? I figured out that their address is shared with another biotech company, creative biolabs. Are these fraud sites? I genuinely cannot tell.

Thanks to you all.

Hi labrats community,

I was watching a video about different types of working-class people, but it only mentioned two extremes: blue-collar jobs like construction and white-collar jobs like office managers/finance bro etc. I’m curious what class would you say you fit into, and why?

Howdy folks!

Hope this is the right place to ask potentially stupid lab questions, if not you can let me know!

Does anyone have any idea of how to clean a pooter? I haven't been working with insects for long and while I don't mind pooting, the idea of not cleaning one makes me feel a little ill.

I might just be being stupid, but how would I clean my pooter without getting moisture trapped in the tubing for ages? I'm working with D. simulans, so even a little water left in the tube can be an issue.

Thanks in advance!

I’m a PhD student in the Netherlands and I would very much want to buy one or multiple of the paid subscriptions to the software Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Autocrit or Hemingway editor as I am convinced that they can save me a lot of time writing my scientific manuscripts. My English is quite good although I make quite some grammar mistakes and mistakes in sentences as I am not a native speaker.

Therefore I am curious to hear which of these four you would recommend to take a paid subscription to (can be multiple ones)?

I am especially interested in hearing the opinions of people who have used multiple ones and can therefore give a comparison based on their experience. Experiences from people who have used only one of these four are also very much appreciated!

I am also very interested in hearing if there is, next to these four, any other spelling-checking software or software that improves sentences that you would highly recommend using! Especially software that gives suggestions in the document in which you are writing (so without having to copy the text) would be awesome.

Hopefully, you can help me with my question!

We have recently struggled as a lab with gel purifications. Some PCR's that give multiple bands or too much smear and we just couldn't isolate the bands at all. We attributed this to the kits being old.

Our PI suggested (before we think about ordering new kits) that we "stab the band on the gel with a tip and dip it for 10' into PCR strips with mastermix already loaded, albeit with double the normal Taq amount".

All of us thought "this is never going to work", but I gave it a shot anyway just in case. Out of 5 samples I tried to purify this way (2 with tons of smear and 3 with 2+ bands), 2 reactions worked. The first ones in order, which makes me think I didn't dip the tips for long enough in the remaining strips.

What are your experiences with similar protocols? Any tips to make it work any better while we wait for kits?

Hey lab tech who doesn't really do micro here. What's the best way to get a good quality GS from sputum? I always have a hard time with decolourizing. There just seems to be areas where the crystal violet gets caught on the sputum.

I've been wondering for a while, and I work nights all by myself so there's not really anyone to ask.

Hi, I'm experiencing problems with someone I’m collaborating with. I’m currently pursuing an integrated PhD, and since this is my first time working in a lab, I’m learning the dynamics and culture of lab work here. The PhD student who taught me lab techniques started shifting tasks they didn’t want to deal with onto me over time. When I made mistakes or misunderstood something, there were moments when they raised their voice or even threw a flask.

The tipping point for me was when they stopped preparing their own media and started using mine instead. I eventually spoke to the PI about it, and they told me, “You’ve made it too easy for them—handle the tasks for your project yourself.” This happened a year ago. After the discussion, their attitude improved, so I decided to stay on the project instead of leaving.

Now, however, the manuscript revision process has come up. While I’m doing everything I can to ensure things move quickly, I’ve noticed they aren’t putting in the effort. Even though they’re the first author, I’m the one plating 12 different cell lines and doing experiments, while they leave me alone in the lab to go out for meals when work needs to be done.

What pushed me to my limit this time was when they asked a junior student to thaw HEK cells, which had nothing to do with our shared project. They then asked me to take the cells out of liquid nitrogen while I was in the middle of preparing cDNA on the thermal cycler. I told the student they could retrieve the cells themselves since they knew where they were stored, but the PhD student raised their voice and said they were “just asking me for one thing.”

The next day, they asked me to prepare PEI, and at that point, I informed the PI that the issue was recurring. The PI understood and separated us again. Later, I found out that they told the PI they were upset that I didn’t address issues with them directly. But here’s the problem: this person’s behavior is unpredictable. One day, they’re cheerful; the next, they’ll suddenly stop talking to me for no reason. Sometimes, they even raise their voice during conversations. Naturally, I’m hesitant to speak to them directly because of this. 

My PI said that I do not show people my boundaries until i get to my tipping point. I think a senior phd student should know if they are asking too much or what their responsibilites are.

I’m curious about how this situation might look from an outsider’s perspective. I’m very angry with them about all of this, but am I overreacting? Am i being toxic?

!THIS IS ENTIRELY A HYPOTHETICAL! I do not plan on, nor condone, endorse, or recommend the consumption of Biotin Ligase.

However, I am curious – BirA has an incredibly specific 15 amino acid recognition sequence. What would happen if i drank a bunch of it

love, reginald

Hi all,

Some context: I am working in an environmental lab in organic extraction and parts of my shift are cleaning glassware. The tap is not consistently running, rather we are reusing the same DI/tap water for all our samples (not common practice to my awareness, unless this is common in environmental labs?)

I have noticed rashes happening after cleaning glassware, likely because we're recycling water and what toxic chemicals are seeping past our gloves + PPE. Any way I can help mitigate this? I've tried taping my gloves to prevent water from seeping in and changing out the water more often, but I still got rashes on my hands today. Any advice/tips for me? I will talk to management + QA. Thank you!

Hi labrats, I'm interested in cloning a viral gene embedded in human DNA. I have extracted DNA from a large number of cells but the gene is not detectable after normal PCR.

I'm now looking to amplify this gene by ddPCR and recover the product using chloroform. I have the primers and the mastermix, do I still need to buy the probes even though I have no intention of quantifying the gene? Also, can generating droplets with regular PCR reagents (dntps, polymerase, etc) work? Thanks in advance

I’m curious about how common it is for people working in scientific fields, particularly in labs, to have partners in similar careers. Is it because the work environment encourages it, or do people with similar mindsets naturally attract each other?

For me, my partner works as a lawyer. The upside is that she approaches problems very logically, which can be helpful. However, she never really understands why I can tolerate spending so many hours—sometimes weekends—doing experiments.

Do you have any interesting stories about your partner and how your careers influence your relationship?

This is probably a super common question around this time of year but here we go - my lab is a little unorthodox compared to most labs I read about online hence why i'm posting. In short, we work with swine manure to make biogas.

I have several undergrads helping on my projects this semester, and along with my PI I want to thank them for their help this semester, as my thesis wouldn't be coming together in the slightest without them.

All I can think of is either stereotypical lab stuff (beaker mugs or shot glasses, etc), or pig themed gifts. It feels a bit impersonal and a bit removed from our work though.

I guess, given the broad scope of my project, do you all have any concepts or ideas?

Hello! I guess this is the right place to ask this but please lmk if it's not.

The family of a friend aquired an abandoned medical laboratory warehouse with TONS of material and chemicals. I am now in charge of inventorizing the stuff and putting a price on the material. I am a soon to graduate chemist and I am familiar with most of the chemicals but they also have a lot of stuff like enzymes or albumin which I don't know a lot about.

It seems the warehouse has been abandoned for around 8 years and the material was stored away from light and in "dry" conditions. They are all still sealed, never opened. Some of them I guess they are unfit for bio-research since they have dust on them but some of them, specially ones that are very expensive such as Sigma Aldrich's Protein A or Aprotinin are in sealed bags inside boxes but NOTHING was refrigerated. Could someone shed some light about wether these thing retain activity or are still useful?

Other stuff in there includes: ExtraVidid Peroxidase, Endotoxin standard, Urease tablets, Acetil Coenzyme A, different types of Lectin, enzymes like cellulase, carbonic anhydrase, proteases. Also different albumins, bovine, egg, human fraction V, rabbit, azoalbumin, Polylysine solution, sepharose, ampholytes, lipopolysaccharides and "Egg yolk tellurite emulsion"

More of a rant than anything else. Long story short, our lab is running low on funding from our sole grant and as we inch closer to bankruptcy, everything we do is under a microscope from our PI. Simple things like purchasing (cheap but a few dollars more expensive, alternative brand) cell culture media requires justification from our end. And all through this, the PI is pushing for publications with minimal funds to crank out the ‘publication-grade’ innovative experiments needed for high ranking journals. It is really like doing a PhD with difficulty mode cranked all the way up to boss level.

The worst thing is that the reason why we’re going bankrupt is in plain sight to everyone (but the PI). It’s because specifically one project is draining the most funds without proper oversight from the postdoc and grad student working on it.

Did I know this is going to happen eventually? In hindsight yes, because we only ever had one grant. So for anyone applying to PhDs or finding new labs, lab funding should be one of the key considerations.

Thank you for reading through my rant if you made it this far.

I don't like LinkedIn and I've always found the whole website very off-putting. I have an account but I haven't put up much info because I can't make myself stay on the website long enough to do anything substantial.

Can I realistically just avoid using LinkedIn at all? I have the skills to build my own personal website so would that be a good enough substitute?

I realize LI is pretty common in certain corporate fields like business, finance, marketing, etc., but I don't know how crucial it is among academics, scientists, and general STEM folks. I just really, really do not want to use the website but I thought I should get some outside opinions. Thank you.

Hi, I am curious to know how many PIs are in this subreddit? What is your field? How did you know you had the qualities to be a group leader and how did you become one?

I completed my MSc degree and 1 year of work as a research assistant in my supervisors lab. He is quite an early career scientist and has only supervised master and undergraduate students.

He is currently applying for grants and has offered me a PhD in his lab if they're accepted later in 2025. I really enjoy the research he conducts but I am afraid of joining a non-established lab.

I have read many of the pros and cons list relating to this issue and the best option is clearly to join a well established lab with active grants,publications and other members.

I would rather join a different lab for my PhD but haven't been accepted into any programmes. If my supervisors grant is accepted, I will be guaranteed a PhD position in his lab. Should I carry out a PhD in my current lab or re-appy next year?

Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Found this great shoutout from a classic Nature Neuro paper today!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2717027/?report=classic

Excerpt from the body: "The stressful environment containing loud Iggy Pop music and bright lights (which rats avoided when able) expanded the fearful generation zone in a rostral direction and promoted valence mixtures."

Except from the acknowledgements: "Finally, we are grateful to the musician and former University of Michigan student Iggy Pop for developing art that is also of use to science."

Any other great shout out or jokes in papers?

Hi, fellow labrats! I'm preparing my MSc thesis defense presentation and I have a question that I hope you can help. Should I include figure explanations (for the result graphs) in my presentation just as I wrote in the thesis itself? It feels too much text to use in the presentation, thus I'm confused a little.

I was recently reading about how residents and scientists involved in the Manhattan Project developed cancer and other diseases due to radiation exposure. At the time, the long-term effects of such exposure weren't fully understood.

Today, although we follow safety protocols, we still face the potential risks of constant exposure to chemicals and GMOs. For instance, we work with lentiviruses and mutagenic chemicals in the lab. It's even a policy that pregnant women are not allowed to work in the lab due to these risks. Despite precautions, there are still inherent dangers.

What are your thoughts on this?

Hii,

I just wanted to get that of my chest. I’m in a really good lab as a master’s student. Everyone is super smart, they’re all PhD students and post-doc. I’m the only masters student and I always feel that my ideas will be dumb if I propose them so I basically don’t really share them since everyone has a lot more experience than me. Even the PhD’s that just started already seems on top of the subject and share litterature with us by email on his free time and he started in the lab after me. I could’t do that, I fear the fact that I could say something stupid. I barely have time to read enough articles to share some, I don’t know how he finds time around his wet lab work.

Some people also come on the weekend to continue their work and stay late during the week while on my side, I quit around 3-5 pm bc I want to have time to exercise everyday and never show up on weekends.

I got a grant to fund my studies there but I feel like I don’t deserve it and someone more competent should be there.. that feeling is eating me alive these days.

If someone could share their experience, and how they shook that feeling off, I would happily take it

Recently in enology lab we used some pipettes, they were fine, but for the larger quantities one tech was experiencing difficulties, what that just user error or is there a qualitative difference between cheap amazon pipettes and say a $1500 set from Thermo Fisher?

On that note, I am setting up our Enology lab, is it possible to cut costs on things like a spectrophotometer & centrifuge or am I totally going to regret buying cheaper equipment?

Is there a place other than eBay for good used equip?

thanks

Can anybody please tell me how much of lipofectamine RNAimax is okay to use to transfect about 100nM siRNA into HEK-293 cells ?

Google says 1ul of lipofectamine reagent per 20pmol (that is 0.02nM) siRNA, when I calculated it came upto 5ul of lipofectamine for 100pmol (that is 0.1nM) of siRNA which iam planning to use in a 6 well plate.

Is this okay or am I missing something ? Please help! 😭😭😭😭😭 Iam going crazy with the calculations here

Me personally, I used to enjoy salt and vinegar chips until I started using Sporklenz, they smell exactly the same. Now I put one in my mouth and alarm bells start going off in my head that I've got to get away from the chemicals.

In absolute quantification, my understanding is that we use a standard curve generated from a serial dilution of a standard solution. We know the concentration and copy number for this standard solution from spectrophotometery. So, my question is: why don't we just measure the products of a conventional PCR reaction the same way? Why exactly do we need qPCR? I understand the general idea of qPCR (at least I think I do) but it feels kind of unitutive. Sorry if this a very basic/stupid question, but I just can't wrap my head around it.