Life Science Tools of the Trade

Nope, you’re right.  I’m not a believer in having *special* enzymes for a quick restriction digest.  What caught my eye about this particular group of enzymes is the buffer they cut in.
Fermentas has come out with a group of fast digest enzymes that all cut in the SAME buffer.  EcoRI, MfeI, HindIII, BglII, BamHI, SalI, XhoI… all enzymes I routinely use.   One buffer for all of them.  You no longer have to consult buffer tables or charts!  Simply set up your reaction and digest away.

Disclaimer:  My understanding is that they are special enzymes NOT a special buffer.  You can’t use your other enzymes in this buffer and assume they will work.

“Don’t make me laugh or I’ll shoot my DNA all over the place”

 Get your mind out of the gutter! He was pipetting DNA into eppendorf tubes.

I received an email from eENZYME promoting their superior centrfuges as the “Mercedes” of the centrifuge world. I’ve never heard of the company “Hettich” but since the are obviously made with superior German engineering I can only say one word and that word is Centrifugevergnugen (The Joy Of Centrifuging)!

There has been A LOT of whining about the spec in the lab and its lack of consistency in its O.D readings. Both Hal and I groan and grumble about it quite often… almost on a daily basis.

How can you be confident when you get a different number every time you spec your DNA? They aren’t consistent or predictable discrepancies either. Some times your DNA undergoes spontaneous PCR. Other times, the plasmid DNA must be contaminated with DNase. Since I don’t believe either of those two scenarios, the only *logical* explanation is that there must be something the wrong with the spec!

I wish the solution were that simple. The service man keeps assuring us the spec is reading his DNA standards just fine! How thoroughly frustrating!! Is it the spec? Us? The DNA? What? The frustration just keeps mounting.

Apparently, we’re not the only lab who has or has had this problem. One of our post-docs informed us what they nicknamed the spec in his old lab - the random number generator!

That name defines our spec perfectly.

Another day, another guy handing out flyers about pipette calibration. I’m not being sexist here….women are probably too smart to take the job. I’m wondering how many companies can exist when their sole product/selling point  is to “repair and calibrate” something someone else sells. Usually, a typical sales rep shows up bragging that their company did the pipettes for the NIH, NASA, blah, blah, blah. An appointment is made. Typically two people show up-one trains the other as you wonder about the claims of “experienced technicians”. Hey, don’t worry if you’re not happy with the work because you rarely see the same “trained specialist” twice.

Buy 2 get 1 free enzymes this Tuesday! A short no nonense email from Jeff at Stratagene announced the sale. Take note sales reps. An email like that gets my attention. Time to shop.