Life Science Tools of the Trade

I’ve never worked in a really large lab. 10 people total is about the max I’ve been in and that is usually split into two groups with about 4 people each (with perhaps one loner/loser NOBODY wants to work with). I recently read an article in a waiting room which claimed that 4.6 people was the ideal group size (based on some poll). The head of Amazon claims that if it takes more than two pizzas to feed the group it is too large to function efficiently. Okay, that sounds like a MBA mumbo jumbo school project but it did make me ask this question:  How many people in the lab would I share reagents with?  To be honest, I would give reagents to anyone but it certainly isn’t reciprocol. There are usually (based on past/present and future projections) one or two people I’d borrow reagents from with complete confidence. There are a couple more  I might mooch from in a pinch (with reservations) and then there are the three or four untouchables I wouldn’t use a bottle of water they just autoclaved.  Advice? Pretty much the same breakdown. So, carrying that thought to advice given on SAB:

about 25% is solid

about 25% is okay but might be flawed

and the final 50% is total utter nonsense.

Sounds about right to me.

Music:  Boxing Mirror by Alejandro Escovedo

Book:  Philosophy Made Simple by  Robert Hellenga  (this is a novel, not a quicky lesson in philosophy such as Philosophy For Dummies)

SAB Mood O’ Meter:  Good

Never heard of this company before but somehow their catalog found it’s way onto my desk.  You know me.  Usually, I’d just recycle the catalog and forget about it.  We don’t buy anything from this company and I had no clue what they sold.  The thing is:  there was something different about the catalog.  The cover has a funky design and says envision proteomics.  Not overly helpful, that encompasses a wide range of products, but still, I found myself thumbing through the catalog. 

As I’ve learned, Abgent is an international company with its US distributor based in San Diego.  The company sells antibodies, specifically, antibodies to post translational modifications.  You know the antibodies.  Those to sumoylation, methylation, phosphorylation, etc.  Additionally, Abgent has custom services for peptide synthesis and antibody production. 

So, now that you know all that.  The thing that really struck me about the company was the catalog.  For each antibody in the catalog there is a western and/or an immunohistochemistry photo.  You know the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Some of the antibodies are very clean, one crisp band.  For some, you see background bands.  The thing is:  the figure/data is right there.  You know what you’re getting and you know if it’s got background.  No surprises. 

Kudos to the marketing individual that opted for including all that data. 

hbogerd can dream all he wants.  The couple of us that went to Bonnaroo are back and if this is what productivity was like while we were gone…  we didn’t miss much.  I would even go so far as to say that, with hbogerds help, I managed to get as much done as those who didn’t go to Bonnaroo.   Of course, having to present lab meeting next week gives me some motivation. 

Okay, I guess it is actually the eastern front and maybe not a front at all but it is quiet here. Some of the “kids” in the lab ventured a state over to check out the Bonnaroo Festival. 80,000 people listening to some really good and some really bad music.  So, what does this have to do with science?

I’ve noticed that when one or two people are out of the lab, productivity may actually increase. No line for the centrifuge, no waiting to get into the tissue culture hood, nobody’s playing Super Collapse on the computer(s) with MacVector! At some point ,when too many people are on vacation, it feels like a Sunday morning in the lab (yeah, I know you think I should be in church….but…). Split the cells to make sure they don’t die, do a few critical tasks and hit the door! Buy some doughnuts and surprise the kids, read the daily newspaper……………….and relax, just relax!

I confess. I pulled the timer out of the dumpster, never expecting it to work. What a surprise to find that the clock, buzzer and outlets all were fully functional! It now sits proudly at the end of my bench connected to a string of Christmas (Yeah, Christmas, not Holiday, Winter Solstice, Kwanza, etc.) that light up when the timer is set. Unfortunately, the lava lamp with blood red tumor wax is too slow to heat up to make it truly functional as a timer accessory.

For the record: My feet never entered the dumpster. I did have to lean WAY over. I rescued the timer by grabbing the cord and pulling it to safety.  No food was  recovered and/or eaten during the diving episode. Yes, my labmates were amused by my recycling mission but I never see them use their wimpy little battery powered timers anymore. I’d have to rate it as my best dumpster dive ever. Retail value ~ $170.

One man’s trash is another’s treasure.  A few months ago, one of my esteemed colleagues found an old analog timer.  When I say found, I mean he saw it in the dumpster, jumped in, and pulled it out.   Much to our amazement, the timer worked and now has a place of honor above the water bath we use for transformations.  Sounds strange - I know.  This isn’t your ordinary timer though.  It’s 7.5″ by 7.5″ - not a timer you carry around with you.  

Of course, everyone has laughed and joked about the timer.  The real kicker came as I was thumbing through a catalog for unique & hard-to-find products the other day.  There on page 17, larger-than-life, is a picture of the BIG, easy-to-read interval timer.  I was, of course, amazed they still made and sold these things.  That amazement quickly turned to stunned silence when I saw the price… $169 !!!

I guess, you never know what you’ll find in the trash