Life Science Tools of the Trade

If you wouldn’t eat at Yee Olde Waffle Shoppe why would you want some room temperature ham on a stale roll?

Another vendor show. Enough said.

#1: I know the first thing I suspect when a Western blot doesn’t work is the box of dessicated non-fat dry milk in the chemical room. Unfortunately, that is NEVER, I said NEVER the problem. I think that stuff was developed sometime in the 1950s by the Russians because you could store it for one hundred years in  bomb shelters. So kids, if your Western blot isn’t working blame the antibody, the ECL, the nitrocellulose, the secondary antibody, the .1% Tween/PBS or more likely yourself but it is NOT, I repeat NOT the milk.

#2: The other day a sales rep from ______________ stopped by the lab handing out broken cookies in a big zip lock bag.  I didn’t eat one since they reminded of the stuff my mom made me throw away when I came home from Trick-or-Treating with unwrapped items from strangers.  Hey look! I found an unwrapped mint covered with lint in my pocket! Yummy! Want one?

Song title of the day: The Sound Of German Hip Hop by Clem Snide

Recent Favorite Book:  It’s My F****** Birthday by Merrill Markoe

So, I’m going to rant and rave a little bit. 

We have a fluorescent microscope setup in the lab that hadn’t been used in awhile.  One of the post docs was doing some IF and when he went to use it, the scope or camera or both weren’t working quite right.  I, of course, got right on the problem and had the service tech from the company come out to look at it. 

He sent me a quote that day, Jan 27th.  After calling the company to give them the payment information and to schedule the service, I have yet to hear from them.  Four weeks!!  I’ve called the company, called the service tech, and left messages.  What the heck is the problem.

What, did everybody vanish off the face of the earth?  I think it’s time I had someone with a little less patience deal with these guys…..

18 camping/survival features in 1 compact unit….  That was the gift the one company gave away at their breakfast show.  The quality of these “gifts” never ceases to amaze me.  I, of course,  am going to tell you about each of the 18 features.    Now, these are in no particular order.

1.  Telescope

2.  Compass

3.  Drawer - Not really a feature by my standards but more a handy storage place with four functions.  (That’s what the directions say, I couldn’t make this stuff up.)  A convenient place where you’ll find the fork, needle, lead containers, fishing hooks and line.   Obviously, the four “functions” are to store the four different items. 

4.  Needle

5.  Fork - I’m not sure what to say about the fork…you have to see it to believe it.

6.  Fishing Kit - don’t expect to catch any large fish.

7.  Magnify Glass - or if you’re on the tv show Survivor, consider it a fire starter.  (I guess that would make 19 features!)

8.  Torch, or as most of us would call it, a flashlight.  Batteries not included,  please supply 2 AAA batteries.

9.  Whistle - Jen has verified, the whistle does work.

10.  D-Ring - They recommend attaching to a key ring on a belt loop for daily use.  I think you’re better off if you attach the fishing line to it and use it as a make shift fishing pole.

11.  Knife

12.  Can Opener

13.  Hook Remover - Not sure exactly where or what this is but they say it’s there. 

14.  Cap Opener - Actually it’s just another name for the can opener.

15.  Fish Scraper - This confirms it.  You’ll only be catching small fish.

16.  Screw Driver- regular not philips

17.  Ruler - Actually, it’s the fish scraper with cm markings on it. 

and last but not least:

18.  Wire Stripper - For all the wires you encounter in the wilderness. 

I can’t wait for Jen to go camping to try this out!

Hey Pedro: “The Free Blog” is spamming the site/blog. I don’t want a ring tone. I don’t have a cell phone. Knick knack paddy whack give the dog a bone.
Valentine’s Day in the lab. I feel like a regular Romeo. Flowers, candy and lunch for my lovely wife. The kids in the lab certainly can’t be classified as romantics. “What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?” ” Nothin’”.

After complaining, what seems like endlessly, about PCR not working, I decided to try something a little different.  Instead of screening for a PCR product, I opted for screening for lack of a product.  Low and behold, what a surprise - it worked! 

Could you build a project around negative data?  That would be the way to go.  The new attitude is:  I don’t want this experiment to work.  Think of all the failures you have in a day.  What if those were actually successes because you’re looking for the experiment not to work.  A revolutionary idea in science…. 

So I’ve come to a decision that I think all sales reps should follow: if you’re making customer calls do NOT stop by within an hour of the end of the day. 

Of any time during the day, the end of the day or first thing in the morning are the WORST possible times to stop by.  In the lab, you’re either setting experiments up to get the day going or trying to finish up to get the heck home!  Who wants to bother with a rep?

As I was finishing up last night, later than I’m usually here, who stops by the lab but a sales rep.  Reagents were in my hands and I was trying to finish up some transfections so I could get out of here.   (I’m sure I looked like I was just killing time.)  So what better time for a rep to pitch his company/products. 

The thing is…I didn’t care what the company sold.  He could have had the greatest stuff on earth but I just wanted to finish up.  To add insult to injury, I come into the lab this morning and what a surprise, the stuff I was doing when I was interrupted didn’t work.  I, of course, blame the rep for the failure.  

No doubt about it, we won’t be buying anything from that company!

Yes, it does happen but rarely, very rarely. I could start a very short list of the times I received bad reagents……two come to mind……..RediVue Version 1.0 (if you used it in a standard random priming reaction it inhibited the enzyme) and Qiagen’s MaxiPrep fiasco (no explanation needed) come to mind. I have often complained to anyone who would listen about the consistently poor advice you get if you call the Tech Service line from any biotech company. Having said that I can only imagine some of the questions they field. ”Can you send me a new kit. The one you sent was bad.”  In reality, 99.99% of experimental failures are end-user failures. Examples: No, the restriction enzyme didn’t go “bad”.  No, your 293T cells didn’t mutate into a non-transfectable cell line. No, ultra-super-doo-dah deluxe commercial competent cells won’t solve your cloning problem(s).

It looks like Sigma has been moving people around and so we now have a new sales rep.  The new rep, David, stopped by and introduced himself the other day.  Congratulations to him on the new job.

I received an “invitation” to fill out a survey regarding “customer satisfaction” from a major biotech supplier. Register to win “One of three free iPods” was the lure to entice me to complete the survey. Ironically, this supplier has been a major target of this blog’s “affection”. Secondly, I hate promos like that- even candy bar wrappers have to put the odds on them. Would they really give me the iPOD if I filled out the survey honestly and told them their customer service was just about the worst in the industry? I doubt it.

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