Lab Rats' Sanctum

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Faye, i kinda have got into it (spent all of this semester learning it) and it is FAR more interesting than Microbiology. Although, I've started to be drawn to Integrons and Transposons...

 

Genetics always wins!
I was joking earlier. Immunology is a fascinating field.
Transposons are loads of fun. A bit unpredictable sometimes, but that adds an extra touch of excitement whenever you're working with them. Will they insert where you expect them to? Will they hop out and move else where while you're not looking, and possibly take a chunk of adjoining sequences with them? The suspense is on!

 

To our local geneticists: My mentor got a gift from a colleague, an in vitro plant (small lovely thing with a purple flower growing in a vial from a green lump of cells stuck in some gelatinous, nutritive matter). I was like a three year old with a new toy. ( I knew such things existed, but I never thought that I would actually hold one in my hands.)
My point being... you guys can make beautiful things.

 

While, yes, Transposons are fun, its more the Integrons I'm looking at, cos they hold the key to defeating ALOT of anti-bacterial resistance.

 

I have a little dilema: My mentor (whom I worship, but that's rather irrelevent) said that I can come and work in the lab for an additional three weeks in July. That would be great (no regular faculty stuff, just research work) and I like the idea, but the problem is that I'm supposed to go home for the summer after my last exam (on July 1st). I like being home... a lot. I'm not sure how to tell my mom/family about it. Another problem is that I most likely won't have computer access during those three weeks, since I already brought the computer home, and the net centre is closed... The only fun thing during those three weeks will be the lab. Out of it... things will be pretty boring. Home will be fun, however.
I don't know what to do. Right now, I'm still rather caught up with the regular exams, but soon I'll have to decide.
Do I get extra lab time, or go home?
Whatever I choose, I'll miss out on some great fun.
Dillemas are not fun.

 

Does it have to be 3 weeks? Can you go for 2, or even 10 days, and then go home? That may be less boring and still give you time to go home and spend some relaxing time there.

 

No, I guess not, Ziad. I suppose I could go there for a shorter period. Funny, the thought never crossed my mind. I'll have to think it over. Thank you.

 

My RT-PCR was a success!
It was my first shot at trying RT as well... I ended up using most of my RNA sample, didn't have any reagants left to extract more RNA, ran out of reverse transcriptase, got some samples mixed up (wrong primer/template combination)... it was such a total mess I was sure it wouldn't work. It did, and I got one nice band exactly where I wanted it to be.
Despite being very frustrating research can be so rewarding as well. I am so happy

 

Hurray for your PCR, Ziad!

Funny how the stuff that looks grim always turns up great, and the stuff that should be a no brainer collides with Murphy's Law on a galactic scale.

My best dry-flash column separation was achieved with silika gel of doubtful dryness (left in a glass for hours), a system that was two days old (a colleague made too much and just stored it away), and the surface of the column looking like the face of the moon...

Crystalls formed in my hand, litterary, and the spectrum (NMR) was

Never again has my chromatography been so smooth... And I wanted to cry over it when I started.

 

Hurray for your chromatograms and NMR Lore!
Now that it's July, have you made up your mind about how long you're working in your Worshipped Mentor's lab?
On an unrelated note I had a series of catastrophes in the last few days... last Wednesday my pressure vessel (which I use to grow my deep-sea bacteria) was not maintaining high pressure. I looked for potential leaks but never could figure out what the problem was. Ended up covering various bits and pieces in grease and left it over the weekend at high pressure. Checked it today and it was fine, no less of pressure! Great. So I turned on the compressor, which controls the temperature inside the vessel... and which spontaneously died.
The whole setup is cursed

 

Hmm... I'll probably only go there for 10 days, even if he is my "Worshiped Mentor"

As for your pressure vessel... a Shaman dance with Petri dishes might be in order

 

Did the dance and now it works. Drawing mystic symbols using bacterial streaks on agar may have helped

 

You simply cant go wrong with mystic symbols...

Agar has got to be one of the coolest stuff in existance... and drawing odd stuff on it is a must... I mean, why else would the eza be so easy to handle?
A pity it usually takes 24 hour incubation for the drawing to be enjoyable...

 

This has been a great day.

My professor just invited me to come work in the lab early (mid September, my faculty lessons start mid October). That is great because I won't have to worry about regular lessons, just lab work for almost a month.

Also, it looks like the project I worked on whole last year just might be good enough to get printed in a journal here... and if it gets printed, it will have my name on it too... so it's sort of... my first paper (of course I'll be just a junior researcher on it, but still, I'm rather happy )

The topic of my next project is still undetermined (my mentor and his assistants decide it)... and I'm looking forward to hearing the possibilities... *crosses fingers for a mechanism study or a nice synt path*

Now all I have to do is get my brain to focus on the stupid Pharmaceutical Chemistry exam on September 8th and get it over with, so that I can enjoy the new Autumn on faculty... There's always a catch.

 

Ah, lab work without any courses... what more could you ask for?
Well in my case it would lab work without posters and without talks. Oh yeah, and without a thesis to write would be nice too.......

 

Hmm... rollers (sp?) ? Running around the lab would be far more fun with them.

 

I'll try that today

 

I'm hoping to finally start with this year's chemistry project next week.
I had lost some time due to illness, some more due to plans which failed miserably (not my fault there) and some more due to the general motivation drought I was in this past few months - learning wise.
Bottom line - I'll try to do this right and hopefully things can still be salvaged.
Posibility of Bad Outcome: 40%.

 

Lab work starts again next week!

Winged rat king holding the Sacred Acidocalypse Spatula be warned!
Solvents are coming back.

 

*Necromantic Arts in progress...*


So... working up courage to ask the mentor if I could pick Supramolecular Chemistry as field for my Graduation Paper (not sure how's it's called properly - work/essay that you defend in order to receive the faculty graduation diploma). He and the assistants are trying to make it real easy for me and simply use one of our ongoing/finished projects for the paper topic, which would be great, timewise, but TBH, I am intrigued by writing a paper on a field I know little about - I want to make it matter, I guess?
I don't think there'll be any lab work involved with the Supramolecular topic - merely a decent review of modern Amazing research being done around the globe - an opportunity for me to learn more and have fun, while the topics suggested, have lab work on their side - a huge plus, I am told. However, I already went through those reactions quite a few times. I'd be writing a paper on something I know. So yeah...

I understand I am complaining without real cause and complicating matters which are rather simple, but... I don't know.

Do I take what I feel like and probably get in over my head with papers I know little about, and no guarantee I can pull through?
Or do I play it safe, do the topic everyone wants me to do and save myself a lot of headaches?
(The topic in question also has "weight", science wise - it's not some super silly student work.)

I want the institute people to be proud of me. I want my mom to be proud (though, she really isn't into chemistry - she'd treat any topic with the same zeal). *I* want to be proud of me - to write a satisfying paper that will adequately portray why I deserve the diploma. A paper that will not just be a waste of ink on things already covered elsewhere.

Anyhow, I'll stop rambling now. Any advice welcome.