So I've been gone a while. End of the semester is a busy time, as you may know. So here are some brief wrap-ups of my labs.
Class Lab
Presented the giant mutant project. Somehow managed a 95 on the presentation, despite completely blanking out on how Ethedium Bromide works. I'll never forget again after that. Also did reasonably well on the final. Given that and an impeccable attendance grade, plus extra credit points for doing the unthinkable and turning work in on time (don't ask), I might possibly scrape an A in the course. Who knows.
Research Lab
I ended up having to complete a multiple sequence alignment, which for several weeks was the bane of my existence. However, once it was all said and done, things turned out quite pleasantly and I actually had something to show for my work, aside from some very colorful cladograms. This is not to say that I wanted to pull my hair out on more than one occasion, mostly as a result of some proteins being hypothetical or certain websites (no naming names...) making it almost completely impossible to find sequences.
So that's what I've been up to. No idea where my life is going for the summer. Stupid economy.
Showing posts with label class lab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class lab. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Mutant Woes -- 7A
So in my Class Lab, for the last several weeks, we've been working on a Transposon Mutagenesis project (don't feel like explaining what that means at the moment). And my group had isolated some nifty mutants, specifically a uracil auxotroph (RBJ-7A, 7A for short).
But, in this lab, we also learn the woes of research: things don't always work. Our little 7A kept on pushing through, even when the rest of our mutants (we had about 25 in total) refused to grow on other media or didn't electroporate properly or whatever. 7A made it all the way to selection for sequencing, which included a restriction-enzyme digest and gel electrophoresis, the results of which my group and I waited for with baited breath. But 7A passed.
And then we sent it to be sequenced...where...it didn't work out.
Such is research, as my TA told us, which is completely understandable. But I was rooting for this little guy. My group was going to have something exciting and different to present at our poster session in May. But it was not to be. So we're using a sequence provided for us by the TA.
Fortunately, little 7A is quite literally chilling out in the -80 freezer, so I know it'll face another day in the future.
Yes, I did get that attached to a Bacillus subtilis mutant. I know I'm a giant nerd.
But, in this lab, we also learn the woes of research: things don't always work. Our little 7A kept on pushing through, even when the rest of our mutants (we had about 25 in total) refused to grow on other media or didn't electroporate properly or whatever. 7A made it all the way to selection for sequencing, which included a restriction-enzyme digest and gel electrophoresis, the results of which my group and I waited for with baited breath. But 7A passed.
And then we sent it to be sequenced...where...it didn't work out.
Such is research, as my TA told us, which is completely understandable. But I was rooting for this little guy. My group was going to have something exciting and different to present at our poster session in May. But it was not to be. So we're using a sequence provided for us by the TA.
Fortunately, little 7A is quite literally chilling out in the -80 freezer, so I know it'll face another day in the future.
Yes, I did get that attached to a Bacillus subtilis mutant. I know I'm a giant nerd.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Just a Quickie
Because I've got a report to edit and studying for my Microbial Physiology test to do.
Anywhoo, I've been busy, editing trees and all that. I'm finding that this one gene, A622 (with a supposedly unknown purpose in tobacco plants) has a lot of roots in...wait for it...diatoms and algae. Hrm...
Granted, I haven't spent that much time doing undergrad research in the past 2 weeks or so due to midterms and writing reports and pretending I want to have a life.
The snow is all right, I guess. We've got a lot, and of course VT didn't close. I'm kind of over it at this point, mostly because I know it's supposed to be in the 50s and 60s Thursday and Friday and that means it's going to melt and be a huge disgusting mess here. I'm just ready for Spring Break.
We're doing stuff with bioluminescence in the class lab. Hooray mutating E.coli to glow in the dark. I just wish I didn't have to write a report on how I did it. I hate writing lab reports. Especially when the prof rips them to bits every time.
Anywhoo, I've been busy, editing trees and all that. I'm finding that this one gene, A622 (with a supposedly unknown purpose in tobacco plants) has a lot of roots in...wait for it...diatoms and algae. Hrm...
Granted, I haven't spent that much time doing undergrad research in the past 2 weeks or so due to midterms and writing reports and pretending I want to have a life.
The snow is all right, I guess. We've got a lot, and of course VT didn't close. I'm kind of over it at this point, mostly because I know it's supposed to be in the 50s and 60s Thursday and Friday and that means it's going to melt and be a huge disgusting mess here. I'm just ready for Spring Break.
We're doing stuff with bioluminescence in the class lab. Hooray mutating E.coli to glow in the dark. I just wish I didn't have to write a report on how I did it. I hate writing lab reports. Especially when the prof rips them to bits every time.
Monday, February 9, 2009
I hate getting graded
Nothing like a few grades to remind me why I prefer my research lab to my class lab.
My average in class lab right now is a whopping 50. And that's easily one of the lowest in the class. I know I'm not really a very smart person, but being in my major is one of the easiest ways to constantly remind me of that.
In research, it doesn't matter how smart I am, as long as I can figure things out. At least it feels that way to me.
This was an incredibly incoherent entry, mostly because I'm annoyed at myself for not doing better.
My average in class lab right now is a whopping 50. And that's easily one of the lowest in the class. I know I'm not really a very smart person, but being in my major is one of the easiest ways to constantly remind me of that.
In research, it doesn't matter how smart I am, as long as I can figure things out. At least it feels that way to me.
This was an incredibly incoherent entry, mostly because I'm annoyed at myself for not doing better.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
This cannot become a pattern
Today was my first day of what unfortunately is looking like a truth of this semester: not having lunch.
In fact, it is nearly 6 and I have not eaten yet today. As Winnie the Pooh would say, "there's a rumbly in my tumbly." And I won't be eating until the boyfriend gets out of his senior design project meeting. About which I'm not complaining, since I know he has done exactly no work on it yet this week and it is sort of required of him if he plans on graduating.
But my schedule this semester is not conducive to the standard 3 meals a day. Neither is my friends' latest habit of having movie nights that start at 10 PM. I like movies too, but I can't sleep through my morning classes because Braveheart ended at 2 AM.
Anyway, I have my first major report due in G&P lab, which has to be written in the format of an article for the Journal of Bacteriology. Yikes. Bookmarked that webpage, it's a new BFF. Fortunately all lab reports have rewrites, which will be essential for me, as I've never written a science journal article before. And I'm going to have to magically understand microbial metabolism overnight, because I can't explain the results right now.
Research is going slightly better. We have weekly group meetings on Fridays, and then there's a mini-group meeting for me and this kid in Computer Science (hereafter referred to as CS Guy) on Tuesdays. Except the first one was today due to a scheduling error. Basically, I'm going to start out annotating phylogenetic trees until CS Guy has written a PERL script that will get through GenBank and BLAST searches faster. Oh and we have about 50 pages of reading on nicotine metabolism that our director wants us to understand backwards and forwards. A preliminary glance at it seems reasonable, a lot of organic chemistry and gene regulation, but I have the biology background for this. CS Guy hasn't had biology since the 9th grade. It's gonna be fun.
Well, that's all for now because my room is cold and I need to read for class.
In fact, it is nearly 6 and I have not eaten yet today. As Winnie the Pooh would say, "there's a rumbly in my tumbly." And I won't be eating until the boyfriend gets out of his senior design project meeting. About which I'm not complaining, since I know he has done exactly no work on it yet this week and it is sort of required of him if he plans on graduating.
But my schedule this semester is not conducive to the standard 3 meals a day. Neither is my friends' latest habit of having movie nights that start at 10 PM. I like movies too, but I can't sleep through my morning classes because Braveheart ended at 2 AM.
Anyway, I have my first major report due in G&P lab, which has to be written in the format of an article for the Journal of Bacteriology. Yikes. Bookmarked that webpage, it's a new BFF. Fortunately all lab reports have rewrites, which will be essential for me, as I've never written a science journal article before. And I'm going to have to magically understand microbial metabolism overnight, because I can't explain the results right now.
Research is going slightly better. We have weekly group meetings on Fridays, and then there's a mini-group meeting for me and this kid in Computer Science (hereafter referred to as CS Guy) on Tuesdays. Except the first one was today due to a scheduling error. Basically, I'm going to start out annotating phylogenetic trees until CS Guy has written a PERL script that will get through GenBank and BLAST searches faster. Oh and we have about 50 pages of reading on nicotine metabolism that our director wants us to understand backwards and forwards. A preliminary glance at it seems reasonable, a lot of organic chemistry and gene regulation, but I have the biology background for this. CS Guy hasn't had biology since the 9th grade. It's gonna be fun.
Well, that's all for now because my room is cold and I need to read for class.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Week 1- Homework, ghost movies, and labs, oh my!
Oh School.
I'm very obviously procrastinating on homework at the moment (2 papers, nearly 300 pages of reading, 2 pre-labs, and a survey that VT Survey refuses to let me access) and I've got a sore throat, so let's recap on the week before I get dressed and hit the books. Man I wish the library opened before noon on Sundays.
Monday was a day off from school, so I spent it attending meetings, stalking the necessary people to sign my undergraduate research form (adviser, dept. head of Biology, academic dean of the College of Science, etc), and relishing the last few hours without work. Tuesday I was off and running, with Microbial Physiology, Gender in 20th C. Africa, and Physics II, followed by dinner on-campus with the boyfriend, one of his roommates and the roommate's girlfriend. Wednesday was the long day, with 3+ hour sessions each of The Great Depression and Microbial Genetics and Physiology Lab (aka Class Lab), and I made the mistake of taking cold medicine in the morning and nearly passing out in Depression. Decided I would not be re-dosing for lab, as sleepy Beth + open flames is surely a recipe for disaster. As it is, I've already burned myself in that lab. Thursday was the same as Tuesday, but managed to grab lunch with the evil twin as Physics II lab doesn't start until the second week, and as soon as I got out of Physics, I went home, jotted a post-it of my homework, and officially called it a week.
I'm becoming a bit of a Guillermo del Toro fan. I've always liked Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, and this weekend I watched The Orphanage and The Devil's Backbone with the boyfriend, both of which are excellent movies. While The Orphanage is trippy in the same way as Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone was a pretty straight-forward ghost story. Also, after seeing The Unborn last week, The Orphanage was reminding me of that a little as well.
Well, that's all for the moment. Gotta get dressed and start on that reading, so I can write the papers...and everything else.
I'm very obviously procrastinating on homework at the moment (2 papers, nearly 300 pages of reading, 2 pre-labs, and a survey that VT Survey refuses to let me access) and I've got a sore throat, so let's recap on the week before I get dressed and hit the books. Man I wish the library opened before noon on Sundays.
Monday was a day off from school, so I spent it attending meetings, stalking the necessary people to sign my undergraduate research form (adviser, dept. head of Biology, academic dean of the College of Science, etc), and relishing the last few hours without work. Tuesday I was off and running, with Microbial Physiology, Gender in 20th C. Africa, and Physics II, followed by dinner on-campus with the boyfriend, one of his roommates and the roommate's girlfriend. Wednesday was the long day, with 3+ hour sessions each of The Great Depression and Microbial Genetics and Physiology Lab (aka Class Lab), and I made the mistake of taking cold medicine in the morning and nearly passing out in Depression. Decided I would not be re-dosing for lab, as sleepy Beth + open flames is surely a recipe for disaster. As it is, I've already burned myself in that lab. Thursday was the same as Tuesday, but managed to grab lunch with the evil twin as Physics II lab doesn't start until the second week, and as soon as I got out of Physics, I went home, jotted a post-it of my homework, and officially called it a week.
I'm becoming a bit of a Guillermo del Toro fan. I've always liked Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, and this weekend I watched The Orphanage and The Devil's Backbone with the boyfriend, both of which are excellent movies. While The Orphanage is trippy in the same way as Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone was a pretty straight-forward ghost story. Also, after seeing The Unborn last week, The Orphanage was reminding me of that a little as well.
Well, that's all for the moment. Gotta get dressed and start on that reading, so I can write the papers...and everything else.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
So I Guess I Should Introduce This
So I've finally succeeded in something I've been threatening to do for the entirety of college: have a semester where I spend so much time in the lab that no one will ever see me.
I've already got mixed feelings about this. I'm excited to be in the labs, one for a class, the other for research, but I know both are going to consume copious amounts of time. Time that recently has been spent playing Guitar Hero, watching Law and Order, Scrubs, and The Office, denying that many of my friends will be graduating this semester, and the occasional drinking.
So about my labs. They will be known, until I get bored of code-naming everything, as Class Lab and Research Lab. Class Lab is a 3-credit, writing intensive, likely-to-become-7-hours-a-week-nightmare, if only because I have a nagging fear that I am not cutthroat enough to be a research kid in a room full of pre-meds. It will be covering molecular and microbiology techniques and we'll see how I feel about my lab group on Wednesday.
Research Lab...well, I recently just got into it, and odds are I'll be sharing all the boring details with you (not boring to me, but probably dull as paint to people who aren't into systematics or genetics). Basically, I e-mailed Dr. J a month ago, met with him last week, got the offer to work in it yesterday, and will hopefully be meeting with him Monday.
Interspersed with Lab Talk will probably be occasional mention of my life outside the lab -- other classes, friends/boyfriend stuff, the news, maybe touch on the roommate issues. Who knows. I guess I'll write as I feel like writing, and we'll let it go from there.
I've already got mixed feelings about this. I'm excited to be in the labs, one for a class, the other for research, but I know both are going to consume copious amounts of time. Time that recently has been spent playing Guitar Hero, watching Law and Order, Scrubs, and The Office, denying that many of my friends will be graduating this semester, and the occasional drinking.
So about my labs. They will be known, until I get bored of code-naming everything, as Class Lab and Research Lab. Class Lab is a 3-credit, writing intensive, likely-to-become-7-hours-a-week-nightmare, if only because I have a nagging fear that I am not cutthroat enough to be a research kid in a room full of pre-meds. It will be covering molecular and microbiology techniques and we'll see how I feel about my lab group on Wednesday.
Research Lab...well, I recently just got into it, and odds are I'll be sharing all the boring details with you (not boring to me, but probably dull as paint to people who aren't into systematics or genetics). Basically, I e-mailed Dr. J a month ago, met with him last week, got the offer to work in it yesterday, and will hopefully be meeting with him Monday.
Interspersed with Lab Talk will probably be occasional mention of my life outside the lab -- other classes, friends/boyfriend stuff, the news, maybe touch on the roommate issues. Who knows. I guess I'll write as I feel like writing, and we'll let it go from there.
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