Join Us
Sign up for our feature-packed newsletter today to ensure you get the latest expert help and advice to level up your lab work.
Search below to delve into the Bitesize Bio archive. Here, you’ll find over two decades of the best articles, live events, podcasts, and resources, created by real experts and passionate mentors, to help you improve as a bioscientist. Whether you’re looking to learn something new or dig deep into a topic, you’ll find trustworthy, human-crafted content that’s ready to inspire and guide you.
Need to add extra nucleotides to your plasmid or other DNA sample? Here’s how to use overhang PCR to easily add extra bases using primers.
The use of restriction enzymes to characterize DNA has been popular since the 1970s. Today, this “old school” technique is still one of the easiest and fastest ways to assess DNA sequences. Like most lab reagents, restriction enzymes can be fickle and you should bear a few things in mind when using them. Generally, sticky-ended enzymes have greater…
It is amazing to get that “Eureka!” moment or finally get that assay to work, but the downside of those moments is that we do face a lot of rejection. Scientists push the envelope of human knowledge and that means we have to deal with a fair amount of negativity in our line of work….
What is a luciferase assay and what is it useful for? A luciferase assay takes advantage of the innate bioluminescent properties some organisms exhibit, most notably the firefly. The firefly can convert luciferin to oxyluciferin in the presence of the enzyme luciferase to emit light. The most common scientific assays utilizing luciferase are reporter assays…
Minimizing pipetting errors in qPCR is essential for reducing technical variability in qRT-PCR experiments. Key strategies include maintaining focus to avoid distractions, using a consistent pipetting order, preparing master mixes to increase volume accuracy, running multiple replicates, and regularly calibrating pipettes. Employing multichannel pipettes and understanding reagent properties also improve precision. These practices help generate reliable, low standard deviation data critical for accurate gene expression analysis.
Normal cells are unable to replicate past several rounds of proliferation (termed the Hayflick limit) as with each round of proliferation the telomeres shorten. When the telomeres reach a critically reduced length, DNA damage is triggered leading to cellular senescence. Therefore, if you tried to culture a primary cell population it would eventually die unless…
Housekeeping genes are essential for normalizing qRT-PCR data to ensure accurate relative mRNA expression analysis. Selecting stable housekeeping genes is critical, as common choices like ACTB and GAPDH may vary across cell lines and conditions. Testing multiple genes and using data-driven selection improves reliability. Optimizing housekeeping gene choice prevents skewed results and supports consistent, reproducible gene expression studies in bioscience research.
The eBook with top tips from our Researcher community.
