Writing papers is an art that most of us learn on the job, and it is often a painful process. In this ebook, Jode Plank runs you through my step-by-step approach to writing papers and hopefully help make the process of writing your first, or next paper, a bit easier.

Whether you’re employing sequencing gels, Sanger-based methods, or the latest in pyrosequencing or ion torrent technologies, obtaining, manipulating and analyzing your sequences has never been easier. Depending on what your goals are, you need to understand the pros and cons of the software. There is a lot of software out there, so do you your [...]

They’re easy numbers to take for granted, so it’s a good exercise once in a while to remind ourselves what pH, pKa and pI stand for: pH—the measure of acidity. It’s the negative logarithm of the proton concentration. pKa—an association constant. It’s the negative logarithm of the ratio of dissociated acid and conjugated base, over [...]

Collecting biological samples in the field can be difficult, since storage conditions outside of the lab are often less than optimal. Enter the Whatman FTA (Flinders Technology Associates) Cards. The Whatman FTA Card, a filter paper product manufactured by GE Health Care, is a paper matrix laced with a proprietary mixture of chemicals that lyse [...]

It’s easy to take bioscience for granted when you work in it every day. But things weren’t always this way. The history of biology harbors some strange and interesting tales that are illuminating and entertaining to the modern day scientist. This short eBook contains four such tales, including how Southern, northern, eastern and western blots [...]

Every scientist, at one time or another, has avoided meetings with their PI. They are, however extremely important in shaping the direction and progress of your project. Having regular productive meetings with your PI will help maintain a positive working relationship and contribute to the success of your project. Keep the following in mind when [...]

There are so many things that molecular biologists need to know that are just not normally taught in formal settings like lectures and textbooks. Instead they are passed down by word of mouth, or learned through hard-won experience in the lab. But now Bitesize Bio offers a new way to pick up these vital nuggets [...]

Obtaining research funding is becoming increasingly difficult and competitive, with success rates varying between 10-30% depending on the funding body and country. With careful planning and preparation you can maximise your chances of success. Here a few tips to take into consideration: Research what funding and what types of funding are available. It’s worth spending [...]

You have just finished your undergraduate studies, or perhaps you have been working in the field for a while, you are full of energy and zest and you want to prove to the world that you are carved from the right stone to pursue PhD studies. Going to graduate school is a very important, potentially [...]

Against the advice of journals and printers, many scientists use Microsoft Powerpoint to assemble posters and figures. You should consider upgrading to Adobe Illustrator! For generating scientific figures, Illustrator is more powerful and flexible than Powerpoint and is designed to produce print documents at high quality resolution. This means that journals will stop sending your [...]