gut microbiome

Kick-Start Your Gut Microbiome Study in Four Easy Steps

Today, the gut microbiome is garnering a large amount of media attention for its role in human health and disease. From influencing immune responses to impact our brain, the gut microbiome is an important and necessary aspect of our life. So much so, that current investigations in the gut microbiome are focusing on developing biomarkers for…

proteins per cell

Quantifying Individual Proteins Per Bacterial Cell

I’m a simple molecular biologist. It’s awesome how computational biologists use math to reduce and rebuild biological phenomenon. In my own way, I also like to reduce my observations to numbers. As a budding biochemist, I need to assemble and quantify the players in my pathway to truly understand it. In particular, I am interested…

transformation

Bacterial Transformation Troubleshooting for Beginners

The first time I did a transformation was when I worked with site directed mutagenesis. I cloned a protein sequence into the p15TVL vector, created my mutants (but that’s another story), and was finally ready for the next step: transformation and expression of my desired protein. Little did I know that my enthusiasm would fall…

microalgal genomic DNA

How to Extract and Amplify Microalgal Genomic DNA

There is a growing trend in using microalgae as the expression system for heterologous proteins. However, I find most protocols dealing with microalgae available online are not that great or informative! So I would like to share my experience in using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as the model microorganism. Before you start expressing your protein, you need…

Open and Closed:  Two Ways to Grow Your Own Algae

Open and Closed: Two Ways to Grow Your Own Algae

In my last article, I talked about the basic protocols and experiments conducted in the process of converting algae into biofuel. Our ability to culture algae has efficiently improved over the years. Continuous improvisation in basic techniques has helped us to understand the growth limiting step of algae culture. In this article, I will discuss…

lac expression

How to Shut Off Background Lac Expression in LB

Here’s a tip that you may find useful if you are expressing proteins in E.coli using a lac promoter-based expression system, e.g. pET, in LB medium (L-broth). Lac expression systems are typically induced in the lab using IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalacto- pyranoside), which is a non- hydrolyzable analog of lactose, the natural inducer of the lac operon….

Anaerobic Tents: General Tips for Use in Molecular Biology

Anaerobic Tents: General Tips for Use in Molecular Biology

Interested in whether your protein uses oxygen to mediate reactions? Wondering if oxygen is keeping your enzyme from its duty? Then what you need as an anaerobic tent! These tips provide some basic knowledge to help you perform experiments using an anaerobic tent. What is an anaerobic tent? Most biologists who work in oxygen-free environments…

What’s The Problem With Ampicillin Selection?

Ever wonder what those small colonies, like satellites, surrounding a larger E. coli colony on your LB with ampicillin plates were? Or why, when you picked that colony, it never had the plasmid you just transformed? Well, it’s because those satellite colonies are “protected” from the ampicillin by the big colony. Read on for more… Ampicillin…