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Jody Plank

Jody gained a PhD in Biochemistry from Duke University, which was followed by a postdoc at the University of California at Davis. Jode is now the Manager – Product & Analytics Group at American Chemical Society.

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Articles by Jody Plank

Image of layered cocktail to represent the layers following phenol-chloroform extraction

Practical Application of Phenol-Chloroform Extraction

By Jode Plank | October 20, 2021

Are you struggling with your phenol-chloroform extraction or just looking to maximize the nucleic acid you retrieve? Then read our expert advice to improve your technique.

Streamline Your Western Blots

Streamline Your Western Blots

By Jode Plank | September 1, 2015

Western Blotting is a long established method for which the protocol varies little from lab to lab. However, there are some new products that are available and some tweaks that can be made to the protocols that may improve your results and reduce the time it takes you to execute this popular technique. Save Time…

Doesn’t Play Well with Others- The Chemistry of the Autoclave

Doesn’t Play Well with Others- The Chemistry of the Autoclave

By Jode Plank | February 23, 2012

While Luria-Bertani broth (LB) has long been the fuel that powered Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, there is an increasing movement towards more specialized and complex bacterial media formulations such as Terrific Broth (TB), Plasmid DNA Media (PDMR), and Autoinduction Media (ZYP-5052). These media formulations optimize E. coli cell growth and performance utilizing specialized carbon sources…

How to Land a PostDoc Position

How to Land a PostDoc Position

By Jode Plank | December 19, 2011

You have been toiling away at your thesis project for years and you think the end is in sight. Now the big question is “What’s next?” If you think you might want to move away from the bench, then you should check out our suggestions for alternative careers for scientists. If you think your future…

An graphic of expanding circles to depict a method for cheaper bacterial transformation.

“Networking” is NOT a Dirty Word

By Jode Plank | December 12, 2011

Merriam-Webster defines networking as “the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business”. Less formally, networking is actively communicating with the other people you know (mostly scientists, in our case) for career advice and job openings, in addition to utilizing opportunities to meet new people for the same purpose. This is a core activity of…

Image of colorful fish to represent fluorescence in situ hybridization

It’s 10 am. Do You Know Where Your mRNAs Are?

By Jode Plank | September 13, 2011

For a long time we’ve been able to pinpoint the subcellular location of proteins, and the advent of FISH (Fluorescence in situ Hybridization) allowed us to locate the position of genes in the nucleus, but recent advances in RNA FISH are making it easier and easier to collect the same data about individual messenger RNAs.…

The Why and How of Ethidium Bromide Assisted Partial Digests

By Jode Plank | April 4, 2011

A partial digest – typically done when you only want to cut one of two or more restriction sites in a DNA – can be a frustrating procedure to execute. The best advice anybody can give about partial digests is to avoid having to do them. However, there are times when there just aren’t many…

The Ins and Outs of Protein Concentration – Chromatography

The Ins and Outs of Protein Concentration – Chromatography

By Jode Plank | February 11, 2011

In parts one and two of this series I described how semi-permeable membranes and precipitation methods could be used to concentrate your protein-of-interest, but there is one more method that you may not have thought of for protein concentration – chromatography. While chromatography resins are an obvious choice for protein purification, they can also be…

The Ins and Outs of Protein Concentration – Protein Precipitation

The Ins and Outs of Protein Concentration – Protein Precipitation

By Jode Plank | February 10, 2011

While precipitation is an obvious choice for concentrating DNA and RNA samples, it can also be an effective way to concentrate proteins. Here in installment two of this three part series, I describe the two most common methods for protein precipitation – ammonium sulfate and trichloroacetic acid. Background Precipitation of proteins occurs primarily by hydrophobic…

The Ins and Outs of Protein Concentration – Semi-permeable Membranes

The Ins and Outs of Protein Concentration – Semi-permeable Membranes

By Jode Plank | February 9, 2011

This is the first of a three part series describing some of the most common methods for concentrating proteins. In later installments I’ll discuss using protein precipitation and chromatography to concentrate a protein. However, here I’ll detail the most popular approach – semi-permeable membranes, used for both dialysis and commercial protein concentrators. Structure of the…

Eliminate the Growth Lag with Large E. coli Cultures

Eliminate the Growth Lag with Large E. coli Cultures

By Jode Plank | January 17, 2011

If you purify proteins expressed in E. coli, then you’re probably familiar with this scenario: you come in bright and early in the morning and inoculate your large flasks of media with the overnight culture, start shaking them at 37 °C, and now you wait. And watch. And wait some more. You can’t venture far,…

writing papers and research paper abstracts

Writing Your First (or next) Paper: Part IV

By Jode Plank | August 18, 2010

This is the final installment in a four part series on writing your first paper. For the first part in the series, click here, for the second part, click here, and for the third, click here. After what has potentially (likely?) been years of data collection and a month or two of writing, re-writing, wailing and gnashing of teeth,…

Writing Your First (or next) Paper: Part III

By Jode Plank | August 13, 2010

This is part three of a four part series on writing your first paper. For the first part in the series, click here, for the second part, click here. Once you have written the first draft and handed it off to your mentor, the editing process begins. Depending on the personalities involved, this could be a…

Writing Your First (or next) Paper: Part II

By Jode Plank | August 9, 2010

This is part two of a four part series on writing your first paper. For the first part in the series, click here. You have been pounding away at your project, probably for a year… or two… or three… Anyhow, you now have a collection of figures that seem to tell quite a nice story,…

writing papers and research paper abstracts

Writing Your First (or next) Paper: Part I

By Jode Plank | August 4, 2010

Most of us learn the art of writing papers on the job, often a painful process. In this four-part series, I’ll run 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. As always, if you have any alternative advice or…

Pimp your Microcentrifuge

Pimp your Microcentrifuge

By Jode Plank | July 26, 2010

Microcentrifuges are pretty much the epitome of efficiency, but I have a couple of suggestions that may make using this instrument even easier. Divide by Three Not only is the number of tubes a microcentrifuge can hold divisible by two, but almost always by three as well. How does this help you? If you have…

Picking an Advisor: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Picking an Advisor: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

By Jode Plank | July 19, 2010

After picking a graduate program, the next big decision for a first-year graduate student is picking an advisor. One of the factors to consider in this decision is the academic age of the Professor and his or her lab. Do you want to work for the energetic Assistant Professor that joined the department last year,…

An image of a collapsed ultra-tube to depict ultracentrifuge safety.

Respect the Ultra

By Jode Plank | July 13, 2010

Have a healthy respect for the ultra! Here are some hints and tips for using a preparative ultracentrifuge, disaster free.

eBay – The other source of lab equipment

eBay – The other source of lab equipment

By Jode Plank | May 31, 2010

While almost all of you are probably familiar with the power of eBay to bring you everything from concert tickets to electronics to your very own Batmobile, you may not have realized that the world’s largest garage sale also has quite a collection of laboratory equipment. I’ve been turning to this source for equipment for…

Will the iPad Replace Your Lab Notebook?

Will the iPad Replace Your Lab Notebook?

By Jode Plank | April 5, 2010

The release of the iPad this week may bring the long-expected replacement of the paper-bound lab notebook by electronic notebooks one step closer. But are scientists, particularly PIs, comfortable with electronic lab notebooks? The rise of the tablets The concept of an electronic lab notebook isn’t anything new, and even the idea of implementing it…

SDS-PAGE: The Easy Way to Find the Wells

SDS-PAGE: The Easy Way to Find the Wells

By Jode Plank | March 22, 2010

If you have ever attempted to load a SDS-PAGE gel only to miss the well, stab the divider, and then watch helplessly as your sample squirts off into the wrong well, then this tip is for you. The fortunate among us are able to use pre-cast gels with the wells outlined on the gel plate,…

Lab Hacks: Lab equipment from the hardware store

Lab Hacks: Lab equipment from the hardware store

By Jode Plank | March 8, 2010

While almost every lab has a small toolbox with some screwdrivers, pliers, and such, here are some tools that may not have obvious utility at the bench, but could make your life easier. A Butane Torch If your OCD is as bad as mine, then watching a bubble flow out of the flask onto the…

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