Life Science Tools of the Trade

In a recent post I complained that biotech suppliers compare their product to supplier A, B, C and never name names. Zymo Research sent me a flyer comparing their miniprep kit with one from supplier Q! Q? Quick, what company comes to mind? Maybe Qiagen?

Perhaps it is just a clever way to protect themselves from a lawsuit but I give Zymo Research credit for strongly hinting at who they think they are better than. Plus one for the Zymo Research ad team!……………….and then I read their nauseating motto, “The Beauty Of Science Is To Make Things Simple”! Minus one for the Zymo Research ad team.

Sat, Jan 19, 2008 @ Research Triangle Park, NC.  I picked up a postcard advertising this conference at a local coffee shop in Durham, NC. I don’t know anything about it and it begs the question “Do I really want to spend a day with science bloggers?”  Do they really want to spend a day with me? I might just stop by and check out the show. If I do, I think I’ll skip the science lab tours.

www.scienceblogging.com

I never thought we’d have this problem in the lab.

It looks like someone is stealing our lab supplies!  I don’t mean one box of gloves here or there.  We’re talking cases of things.  All consumables.  Gloves and sterile pipettes seem to be the favorite items though.  Who the heck would be stealing this stuff?  That’s what we’re trying to figure out now.

In the mean time, I’ll be spending the next couple of days moving things around and making sure everything is locked up!

Promega has a recent advertisement for their GoTaq polymerase comparing it to Taq from three different vendors. GoTaq is reported to give higher yields, faster and with increased sensitivity when compared to three well known life science companies  N, T and A.  Promega isn’t the only company to practice less than fill disclosue when comparing their “superior” product to competitors. It would be much more impressive if they named names. For example: Promega’s GoTaq is superior to Stratagene’s Taq Plus Precision and we can prove it! Why don’t they name names when they make their claims? Probably because they can’t really prove their product is better in a controlled experiment done by an independent lab, but then advertisements don’t have to pass peer-review so anything goes.