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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.
Conserved elements are stretches of DNA sequence that are under purifying selection. That means mutations leading to a change of function in this part of the DNA are detrimental to the organism and will not become fixed in the genome, but rather discarded by natural selection. The level of conservation between species gives an idea…
A commonly used technique in epigenetics is Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, or ChIP for short. This technique can show you whether a certain protein (e.g. transcription factor or histone modification) binds to DNA, when in its native conformation, namely chromatin. Insightful, but difficult This information can be very insightful, but difficult to obtain. Most protocols and suggestions…
The ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a rapid method used to detect the amount of a protein of interest in clinical and experimental samples. There are a number of ELISA formats to choose from, depending on your research needs. These include direct ELISA, indirect ELISA, competitive ELISA and sandwich ELISA. We have previously covered the…
According to the International Society for Stereology, the area of scientific study encompassed by this term is that which analyzes solids. If that all sounds a bit too much like materials science, then for us microscopists, it’s really about the review of three-dimensional objects (mainly tissues) by making horizontal and vertical incisions. Stereology can be…
In her article How to Get Perfect Protein Transfer in Western Blotting, Emily Crow recommends Coomassie staining your gel after transfer to the membrane to check the quality of the transfer. A good transfer should not leave behind proteins and PVDF membrane, stained by 0.1% Ponceau S in 5% phosphoric acid and destained with water…
The importance of epigenetics in biology is increasingly acknowledged (if you’re not convinced yet, read my crash course). One commonly studied epigenetic mark is CpG methylation: cytosines that are directly followed by a guanine nucleotide (indicated by CpG), can be methylated, unlike non-CpG Cs. Since attachment of a methyl group to a cytosine can affect…
Sanger sequencing is still a workhorse of most molecular biology labs. Even with the advent of next-generation sequencing we still need to sequence our clones and PCR products. In this article I have listed some of the tips and tricks we used in our Sanger services. (1)Dilution of BigDye: I’d expect this to be a…
The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) algorithm is at the heart of a free suite of online resources available through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). While most researchers are aware of BLAST as a sequence alignment tool, NCBI’s BLAST suite offers so much more! I’ll cover in-depth how to use these resources…
The last two decades have seen a dramatic increase in the number of publications using immunohistochemistry (IHC) as a research tool to identify the spatial location of proteins of interest within cells, tissue sections and whole-mount preparations. Grinding and binding The advantages over ‘grind and bind’ methods are apparent, but the very best results will…
Finding a good primary antibody can often feel like playing Russian roulette. Nothing is more disappointing than buying a $300 antibody that doesn’t work for your use. There are some steps you can take, however, to increase your likelihood of success. Scout out Other Labs Before you buy, ask if anyone around you or in…
Calculations can be the bane of laboratory work. Fortunately, there are many easy methods to help you do the maths you need in the lab. Here, we tell you about the different ways to calculate primer concentration depending on the starting material. For all calculations, let’s assume we have 22 nmol of a DNA primer…
Alternative splicing events often occur in a spatiotemporal manner, and some are regulated by alternative splicing regulators, with striking variation across tissue types and developmental stages. Alternative splicing events are often differentially regulated across tissues and during development, as well as among individuals and populations, suggesting that individual isoforms may serve specific spatial or temporal…
Of all the words you write to prepare a manuscript, too often the most important ten or so are left as an afterthought. You’ve slaved for weeks to finish your manuscript. Through draft and re-draft, you managed to shoehorn hundreds of man-hours of careful lab work into the word limit designed to be precisely 300…
Anyone who is involved in DNA sequencing in one form or fashion knows there are multiple ways to skin a cat: Sanger-based, next generation (NGS), and of course the new ion torrent sequencing technology. Which technology you use is usually dependent on the questions you’re trying to answer – and how fat your wallet is….
Anyone who has spent any amount of time in a cell or tissue culture lab will have experienced contamination at some point. You might not admit it, or want to admit it, but you know you have! I performed my graduate work in a basement university lab with an out-of-service emergency exit door in the…
It is a truth universally acknowledged that free cheese exists only in a mousetrap, and even there it’s free only to the end user. So it’s no wonder that the traditional system of most scientific publications through publishing houses seems to be fair. A publishing house (PH) employs editors as well as technical personnel to…
The correct documentation and storage of your laboratory samples may be a tedious process, but it will make your life a lot easier in the long run. The last thing any scientist wants when trying to complete a key last experiment for a publication is not being able to find or identify a critical sample….
Need to stain Gram-negative organisms? You should consider the Warthin-Starry stain.
I have been fortunate enough that in my career to date I have rarely experienced the problem of other people stealing my reagents. However, one PI told me of her experiences working in a US laboratory where things had got so bad people brought their reagents home at the weekends! Working in a research laboratory…
Parents of small children attending nursery know that the period of time from September to June is a succession of colds and flues for the whole family – children with their underdeveloped immune system exchange viruses, creating new potent strains. Well, that’s probably how bacteria feel all the time in the natural environment teeming with…
It takes some time to complete any professional education beyond a bachelors degree. So what to do if you’re not absolutely sure about spending the roughly sixty-or-so-months it takes to achieve a PhD? A hands-on internship or lab rotation is an excellent way to investigate science as a career. In a few short months an…
Every once in a while a big case of scientific fraud reaches public attention. Does that mean these well-known cases are exceptions, a few rotten apples…or might the rest of the fruit bowl also be affected? A major part of a scientist’s work is to secure funding for future research. Obtaining funding is strongly connected…
The stability of an antibiotic depends on its chemical structure, method of isolation (from natural sources or chemical synthesis), and the mechanisms of inactivation. First generation antibiotics isolated from natural sources, such as penicillin, are the most unstable, followed by its semisynthetic derivatives (such as ampicillin and carboxycylin). Aminoglycosides (kanamicin, spectinomycin, etc.) are more stable….
We’ve all been there. Digging through the -80°C freezer, fingers about to get frostbite as you scrape the ice off a tube to read an illegible plasmid name, hoping it’s the right plasmid with little or no knowledge of how it was cloned in the first place. And this is the starting material for your…
RNA sequencing (‘RNA-seq’) has become one of the most widely used applications for Next-Generation Sequencing. RNA-seq can provide gene expression data more cheaply than microarray, at greater sensitivity, and without the biases inherent in an assay based on quantifying nucleic acid hybridization. RNA-seq can also provide data about alternative splicing, allele-specific expression, expression of non-annotated…
In Part 1 of this Guide, we learned about the importance of support, resources and objectives when choosing a fluorescence microscope. We continue this guide by looking at everything from filters to warranties. You should get these filters… Quality of the barrier filters and dichroic mirrors are the deciding factor on how well you can…
You’re a senior postgraduate student, a post doc or a junior PI with little knowledge on microscopes and someone between Senior PI /Dean level approaches you with this: “We have now the funds to buy the fluorescence microscope someone once told me we need. Can you handle this please? Oh, by the way, the funds…
2D gel electrophoresis (2DE) is a key technique for purifying individual proteins from complex samples based on their isoelectric points and molecular weights. Simple enough in theory, but as the plethora of protocols and articles shows, 2DE demands patience and meticulous optimization. But whether your samples are human sera or HUVEC lysates, 2DE uses these…
Transfection of animal cells has proven an invaluable tool in studies of gene expression, cell behavior, cell processes and molecular genetics. Essentially, transient pores are opened within the cell’s lipid bilayer, allowing insertion of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, siRNA, RNAi), proteins, nanoparticles, and even antibodies into the cellular milieu. Transfection can be achieved using many…
Thirty-five years ago, Dr. Janet Davison Rowley sat at a microscope in her lab at the University of Chicago and made a remarkable discovery in cancer biology: that leukemia is caused by the translocation of a chromosome. In other words, it is a disease of the DNA. Today, thanks to next generation sequencing (NGS), we can zoom in…
Tandem affinity purification (TAP) is a versatile technique allowing the isolation of proteins for various purposes including Western blot and mass-spectrometry. The target protein is fused with protein A from streptococcus and the calmodulin binding domain, which together comprise the TAP-tag (for an introduction to TAP-tagging, see this article). To purify a TAP-tagged protein from…
Coating (or ‘subbing’) slides for immunohistochemistry can be the difference between having an organized set of tissue slices ready for microscopy- or watching them detach and float away during a wash. It takes a lot of time to place tissue slices in correct anatomical order, aligned right-side up and flat. To the naked eye, all…
Having to make stock solutions is a part of everyday lab life…a tedious, but necessary, one. So why not make the process as streamlined as possible? Here are a few little tricks I picked up while I was still in the lab: What are your tips for making stock solutions?
Plasmids—the loops of DNA in bacteria that form the original foundation of biotechnology—were being discovered constantly in the 1940s and 1950s. The only problem was, they were called everything but. Series of scientists found bacteriophages and other strange loops of somatic DNA, and gave them a series of names, including: pangenes, bioblasts, plasmagenes, plastogenes, choncriogenes,…
To become an expert in managing people and projects together, a scientist needs a variety of important skills to succeed. One way to add to an already impressive skill set is by mentoring others through internships. Students take internships to be exposed to new things. Mentors give internships to inspire others to do research. They…
After years of hard work in the lab, having to sit down and write everything up can be a daunting and difficult task. Here are a few tips that I picked up during my thesis write-up that might help to make the process that little bit easier. Back up This is probably the advice most…
Visualization of DNA in gels is one of the most common procedures a molecular biologist can perform. In a good day, I can run at least 4 different DNA gels! When I was trained, ethidium bromide (EtBr) was the only viable option to easily visualize small amounts of electrophoresed DNA. However, safer and more sensitive…
So, you’ve just received a call from the core facility that you hired to prepare and sequence your libraries. The facility director tells you that the sequence data from your next generation sequencing (NGS) experiment does not look good. You panic and, perhaps, let loose a scream of frustration—aaarrrrggghhhh! This project was going to be…
Ever wake up especially groggy in the morning, finding it takes a few minutes and a few eye rubs to be able to decipher the numbers on your alarm clock? Our eyes have the ability to resolve an image, so that you can observe separate objects and details. Similarly, microscopes have a parameter of resolution:…
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…
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