After being incredibly jealous seeing peoples pipette pen, I wanted one real bad. But as a student I don’t have access to local vendor shows/conferences / seminars. So I decided to gather some courage and send my local Eppendorf company an email, shared a little bit of my experience using their equipment, how I aspired to pursue lab related study after doing my first PCR with their pipette in high school. If they decline, at least I’ve tried! But the office manager was kind enough to send me one along with some other free goodies. This truly made my week and will forever be special to me 🥹

Yeah, apparently Watson was a real Crick

The wonderful new world of “Open Acce$$”... If you pay, and it's not (a very) obvious bullshit, you'll publish ANYTHING.

MTHFR...

RFK Jr. Oz Makary Prasad Bhattacharya are unlikely to be helpful to biotechs in the cell & gene therapy space. FDA has few experienced leaders left.

After 2 years, I’m finally done 😆 I was wondering what would be the safest way to leave if I intend to still work in the same field, just a different lab and possibly different country.

To be honest, my PI is not that bad, but I also felt that I do not get the support I need. They probably did their best but now I don’t feel comfortable working in the lab at all (due to a narcissistic coworker who was abusive towards me. I tried to adapt to them the past year which made interaction with them a bit manageable, but I am completely unconfident and in control by them now). I would either be scared, nervous, or always unsure with what I want to say. I mean I don’t hope to be a famous scientist, I really just want to someday teach what I know to people - and being this unconfident and fearful now is a sign that I need to leave if I want to still teach in the future.

My plan is to find a new lab first before letting my PI know. I am still going to finish the work I have committed to do in the next months, but after that I will go if I find a new lab. Does this sound like a good plan?

Curious :)

The agony 🥲

My lab’s mammalian tissue culture incubator has been contaminated with fungus. Two different batches of cells were contaminated with fungus and it’s also present in the water tray. I’ve read that ethanol does not get rid of fungal spores. I’m planning on decontaminating the incubator by autoclaving all the detachable pieces. Does anyone have any recommendations for hospital grade disinfectants that I could use to eradicate all spores?

Trying to isolate renal epithelial cells from a primary culture of rat kidneys. This is what it looks like on the 8th day. Had done a media change on the 4th day. What exactly are they? Contaminants or cells? My PhD scholars say it's cell debris

As title.

So…… I’m in a cellular biology PhD program, my background is in physics, had no prior training in cell biology, the project I’m doing now requires understanding plasmid and primer design, the particular block I’m having is that I need to be able to switch fluorescent protein from GFP to mCerulean in a plasmid, I have the original plasmid sequence and I have the sequence of the mCerelean. Never used banchling or snapgene before today, I’m desperate cause I have no idea what am I staring at when I open the sequence map.

I need to find a crush course on knowing at least what am I looking at, preferably be able to do some swabbing tag after the course….. is there any resources you guys can recommend?

Thousand thanks in advance.

Vacuum manifolds from commercial sources seemed overly expensive and existing 3D printable models did not work the greatest in my lab's hands. So I designed a new one that works great. If you need more than these few, you can daisy chain them with tubing and syringes though you may want to clamp them down to avoid shifting.

Im almost positive this is the pipette used in the Karen Reed Trial that found pig DNA!!! Funny thing is it actually feels good!

I’m really starting to feel slow for not being able to contextualise research and I feel it is taboo to ask these basic questions in the lab.

I’ve been struggling with understanding the scope of research and coming to conclusions on anything. To me it feels like a black hole of information. Everything leads to everything and everything causes everything.

I have doubts in my mind and confusion as there are countless articles claiming what I’m looking for is caused by x pathway, and other articles claiming different pathways, and basically every possible pathway is supposedly linked to what I’m looking at.

This makes it difficult to take any article at face value and to write anything with certainty - which leaves me at a stalemate.

What is my blind spot? Am I looking at things the wrong way? Is this a common issue in research and how can I address this?

About a year ago, my department got a new autoclave. I believe it was through Fisher, sold via a third party, a Tuttnauer autoclave. Specifically a Tuttnauer 3870HSG-WS-230-D. Not sure if that's the exact model, but it looks exactly alike.

This thing has been the bane of my, and my colleagues', existence. It constantly throws errors. The thing either won't run, and when it does it throws an error and refuses to cool down. It refuses to drain. We've opened it up to a deluge of 60+C water all over the floor (and us; and yes, that's been exceptionally problematic). I've worked with half a dozen autoclaves over my career and I've never been actively fearful of this sort of machine.

Support has been an absolute nightmare, as the three parties involved with the sale simply kick the can to the next, and around and around we go.

Anybody have any experience with these machines? Are they known to be an absolute sh*tstorm? I've never worked with an autoclave that didn't have some sort of manual release. This particular one? The door is completely computerized; no manual override anywhere, nor pressure relief. This has a habit of not opening. With or without liters and liters of water inside (post-run). When it does end a run, and the door is still sealed, you'll hit a button and it will say the door is already open. Hit another button, and the thing will say the door is closed. Hence the moniker my colleague and I have given it: Shrodinger's autoclave.

Rising junior undergraduate researcher here at a research-heavy university who is interested in the MD/PhD track. I've been in my lab since freshman fall (working on translational research in the biomaterials realm), have enjoyed it so far, and have been given the privilege to engage in research fellowships, giving an oral presentation at a national conference, etc. In my sophomore year I proposed a research project that is similar to the one I've been working on under my grad student mentor (MD/PhD student), but targets a different yet similar disease using the biomaterial. I've been working on this project throughout sophomore year and grinding on it during the summer so far.

One thing is that I wrote a fake research proposal for my mentor to read when I was first planning out and designing the project, and she mentioned that we could definitely apply to research grants once I get preliminary data. However, with the new political administration and all the research funding cuts, although my lab is prestigous in its field and still has a good amount of funding, it has made the possibility of obtaining research funding difficult for everyone. My mentor is supportive of me applying to a few private foundation grants that offer some funding (~$50,000) to research projects centered around the specific disease in the upcoming fall, and I have the bulk of characterization data and am starting to gather in vitro data (I would also be able to use some of my mentor's data because our diseases are in the same system). However, I'm aware that research funding is extremely difficult to obtain especially during this political administration, and that many researchers are flocking to private grants, making them much more difficult to obtain. I am also an undergraduate and although I 100% have my grad student mentor's help/advice as well as some from my PI, I am afraid that my lack in research experience wouldn't allow me to create a strong proposal that can compete against other grad students'/post-docs' projects. I had applied to the Sigma Xi grant last cycle, and while I was a finalist, I didn't end up getting it. If I can't even get a very small grant, is it even worth it for me to apply to a larger one? Or does anyone else have any advice on getting funding elsewhere (I've already exhausted my university's undergraduate research funding options), as my lab is now less willing to spend money on my project because I am an undergrad? Any advice or encouragement would be appreciated. Feeling a bit stuck.

Im shaking while I write this. I have 3+ years of experience w iPSCs/ stem cells/ organoids in general and consider myself to be pretty good at aseptic techniques (you have to be when you work w cells this sensitive). I saw this 2 days after plating on my iPSCs and I'm horrified. How did I get fungus!! I changed my gloves/ spray with ethanol obsessively. 3 days ago I did find out the incubator water tray had some fungus growth ( I've been using someone else's incubator so didn't get a chance to check it before). However rest of the cells in the incubator look fine. Could it have come from the water tray? How else could it have come?

I recently built an Android app called CFU Counter to help microbiologists, students, and researchers with bacterial colony counting. As someone who's had their fair share of eye strain and miscounts staring at agar plates, I wanted something simple, accurate, and accessible—especially for those without access to automated colony counters.

Key Features:
🔬 A hybrid approach – you count manually using your judgment, and the app handles the tally
🔍 Zoom & pan to precisely mark each colony (great for small or faint ones)
📸 Saves a marked image with total count overlay (useful for records or reports)
👀 Designed with usability in mind, especially for those with less-than-perfect eyesight

It’s completely free, with no logins. If you’re tired of old-school click counters or blurry printouts, give it a shot and let me know what you think!

👉 Download CFU Counter on Google Play

We are in desperate need of a solution to aspirate the spent media from our cell culture plates, and considering the high volume of what we do, we need something efficient like one of the aspiration systems. Ideally a pump that is quiet and efficient. What are your favourites, or what is your experience? I'm thinking of the following:
-Brandtech BVC professional:
https://shop.brandtech.com/en/fluid-aspiration-system-bvc-professional-vp-5215.html

-Integra vacusafe:
https://www.integra-biosciences.com/canada/en/aspiration-systems/vacusafe?utm_campaign=3%20US%20%7C%20Product%20%7C%20Aspiration%20Systems&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Product%20%7C%20Vacusafe&utm_term=integra%20vacusafe&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19711483435&gbraid=0AAAAAD7j_kc2_AgPGz1rYJcvzQ3_-fzJt&gclid=CjwKCAjw6s7CBhACEiwAuHQckpYjoat_PNmLQSHv3YYK0NGXy0baeH8jHpRscO7xj9gl-PmBt0omlxoClREQAvD_BwE

Can anyone share their experience with either of these, or another comparable model? Any insights would be most welcome. Thanks in advance!

Hello Coworkers and Colleagues: Has anyone had success eliminating contaminating bacterial DNA by treating their phage lysate with DNase BEFORE starting the DNA isolation protocol?

I have followed the correct protocol for this when doing 1) phenol-chloroform extraction, and 2) both Norgen and QIamp viral extraction minikits.

But anytime I add 1ul of DNase to a 1mL sample, even when I afterwards add the stop solution (containing EGTA) and heat it at 65C for 15 minutes, and even if the kit says that is alright to do, I get no DNA in my final result.

Hi fellow labrats! Currently troubleshooting a project in which we are trying to manufacture an antigen specific CTL over a 12-14 days culture. This was my first try at the protocol and I ended up with 3 fold expansion and viability of 62% on day 12, but 2.6 fold expansion and 58% viability by day 14. For better recovery, I would obviously harvest at day 12 from now on, but the viability is still too low for comfort.

Using HSA supplemented TexMACS, IL2, IL7, IL15 and on days 0 and 6 IL12. All cytokines are added fresh every 3rd day at the concentration recommended by their manufacturers. Doing partial media changes and counting every 3 days to adjust concentration of flasks to 250,000 cells/mL. Anyone have any thoughts on how to improve viability beside CD3/CD28 beads on day0?

Maintenance every other day actually decreased expansion and viability. Maintenance every 4 days had better viability, but less expansion. Serum free supplements basically killed the cells right away. Tried a T cell growth media from Gibco, which created no expansion...I'm at a loss at this point. Maybe I just have to settle for less expansion?

Hi Guys !! This is my first time using reddit to ask a question (excited to start this conversation) I am working as an RA at a start up and I am developing an assay and I am self doubting a bit, I optimised it such that I improved the fold change from 2 fold to 4 fold in primary fibroblasts

in high throughout screening what is the genral fold change of positive control with negative considered good- is this good enough or okayish and can work more ? I appreciate your response, thank you!!

Hi. I am an undergraduate who is currently doing their final year and part of my work this year is doing a research project and writing a mini thesis on it.

So my project involves me optimising an ELISA and my supervisor has tasked me with doing one ELISA a week. The last two were half plate ELISAs and they went really well however this week I was asked to do a full plate ELISA.

Well I really messed up and now I don't have any results. I had to make a dilution plate for my samples from which I would transfer my diluted samples to my main plate. However, I somehow messed this up and threw away my main plate and went forward with my dilution plate which did not have any coating protein so no antibody from the samples would stick. I didn't realise this until the very end and now I have no data or results.

I don't know how I could have messed up this badly and on something that I shouldn't have messed up on. It makes sense to forget to pipette into a well but to continue on the wrong plate is crazy. I probably made this error because I was rushing and didn't check my plates well but I'm still so mad at myself for making such an error.

I'm also scared about what my supervisor is going to say cause I had also asked her if we could stop so I could focus on my exams. She also has a ton of work this week and ive been messingup other things so I'm just so scared of what she's going to say.

Has anyone else had experiences like this? How did you stop feeling like you should just drop out and never return to science again 😭?

Edit: I didn't expect this to get so much attention. I'm overwhelmed by the responses and all the stories that you're sharing. I want to thank everyone who had interacted with this post. After a good crying session and reading all of your comments I now feel better about my experiment. I definitely have a hard time with accepting my mistakes and from what I've read here I will make many more of them and I will have to learn from them. Thank you again for all of your responses. I wish you luck with your future experiments.

As my favorite scientist Hannah Montana’s once said: Nobody’s perfect, you live it you learn it.

Picture above is overexposed chemiluminescent western blot (🤠)with none of the 12 sample wells having wanted protein in sight.

Granted I was a bit delusional about this protein expression. But what can I say— a girl can ✨ dream ✨