Sour milk
#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
Posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2006 at 10:32 pm Categorized as:General You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 27th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
You’re way off base here, hbogerd. I know for a fact a lab that has had never ending problems with Westerns and milk. It’s the number one reason they see spots all over the films.
If you don’t let the milk completely dissolve overnight at 4 degrees with gentle mixing, the particles of milk leave dots.
February 27th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Can’t disagree. When my stuff doesn’t work, 9 out of 10 times it’s my own stupidity. Wish that wasn’t the case but unfortunately, it is.
February 27th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
Of course the solution to non-fat dry milk that has “gone off” is to use a 10% solution of Half-and-Half which is essentially 5% Half and 5% Half. Hint: If you plan on reusing the antibody be sure to add a shot of rum and store at 4 degrees.