by Suzanne on July 1, 2009

Gel extraction -- what could be easier? Now we have quick and easy gel extraction kits, we no longer need to use time consuming old fashioned methods like electro-elution or "freeze and squeeze". Thank goodness. When Gel (read on...)

by Shoba on June 23, 2009

Controls are obviously extremely important when setting up experiments. Without them, meaningful interpretation of the experimental results can be impossible. I say obviously, but in my previous job as a technical services (read on...)

by Suzanne on June 22, 2009

The reverse transcription (RT) step of RT PCR for converting RNA to cDNA is critical for accuracy in quantification and for finding low copy messages. So you want to make sure that this step is performed with the highest (read on...)

by Nick on June 15, 2009

Keeping safe in the lab really only requires one thing: common sense. But if you look at what people are doing in the lab, you might think that that common sense isn't so common after all. What are the most stupid things you (read on...)

by Suzanne on June 8, 2009

Whether cloning is your everyday work, or you just dabble, you are bound to meet the situation where you need to remove a stretch of unwanted DNA from your vector, e.g. to remove unwanted sequences or make an insertion. If you (read on...)

by Nick on June 4, 2009

No matter how many times you look at it, it's not going to change. You are planning your next cloning experiment, but there's a problem. The only restriction enzyme that cuts in a suitable position on your plasmid vector also, (read on...)

by Suzanne on May 27, 2009

Attending the 2009 American Society of Microbiology meeting this week in Philadelphia, I decided to take my own advice and visit the exhibits to see whether any of the exhibiting companies had any really innovative and unique (read on...)

by Nick on May 11, 2009

RPM and RCF are two units that can be used to describe the speed of a centrifuge. Although they may look similar, they are oh-so-different and confusing them has resulted a disastrous end to many an experiment. So let's set it (read on...)

by Suzanne on April 28, 2009

What do you get when you cross eastern medicine with molecular biology? How about a novel way to isolate mRNA from living cells using acupuncture? That's just one of many projects going on in Dr. Karl Hasenstein's lab at the (read on...)

by Shoba on April 21, 2009

In my last article, I introduced Cell-Free Protein Synthesis. Today I want to talk about a major bottleneck in in vitro cell-free protein expression; low yield. Most often, paying attention to the important factors such as (read on...)