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.
Discover how to get started with CRISPR gene editing in your experiments with our key considerations.
3′ mRNA-seq is a NGS method to profile gene expression that is sensitive and straightforward but won’t blow your budget.
Mitochondrial DNA isolation can be time-consuming and laborious. Find out how to minimise the time needed for its extraction, while ensuring fantastic results.
The efficiency of whole genome sequencing (WGS) workflows has skyrocketed since its inception. Major leaps and minor tweaks in the WGS workflow have compounded over time resulting in radical reductions in processing time and the cost of sequencing whole genomes over the past decades. The complete sequencing of the first human genome, named the Human…
Macrophages are a type of white blood cell derived from monocytes that are most widely known for the ability to phagocytose cell debris, pathogens, and even cancer cells. However, it is becoming clear that the role of macrophages goes beyond eliminating cellular waste. Macrophages are often used in conjunction with T cells to measure immune…
The success of whole genome sequencing (WGS) is shown in the quick and efficient scientific response to the 2011 outbreak of E. coli in Germany and France.1 German and French strains of E. coli were indistinguishable using standard tests. However, WGS analysis showed 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the German strains and 9 SNPs…
An oft-repeated maxim in biological bench science is that any experiment is only as good as its control. A control is an unchanging standard of comparison in an experiment, and an internal control is typically a standard reaction run together with the test reaction in the same reaction mixture. The purpose of an internal control…
The advent of Next Gen Sequencing (NGS) has been truly amazing. One of the marvels that is often overlooked is how advances in DNA extraction technology have helped streamline NGS workflows. The original standard – phenol/chloroform extraction – is not well suited to the automated nature of today’s sequencing workflows (though with the emergence of…
Reduced-representation genome sequencing has been one of the most important advances in the last several years for enabling massively parallel genotyping of organisms for which there is no reference-grade genome assembly. An implementation of the approach known as ddRAD-seq, first conceived in the Hoekstra lab at Harvard, has been widely adopted by the plant and…
WGS technologies have seen significant progress since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. First-generation Sanger Sequencers were limited by lengthy run times, high expenses, and throughputs that read only tens of kilobases per run. The arrival of second-generation sequencers in the mid-2000s brought about the plummeting of sequencing costs and run times,…
In whole genome sequencing (WGS) initiatives it is not enough to simply sequence the whole length of the genomic DNA sample just once. This is because genomes are usually very large. The human genome, for example, contains approximately 3 billion base pairs. Although sequencing accuracy for individual bases is very high, when you consider large…
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has ushered in a new era of understanding of both the inner workings and the function of the genome. NGS allows researchers to look at traits—including diseases—that are linked to differences or mutations in an individual’s genes. Since only about 1% of the human genome constitutes genes that code for proteins, several…
Studying immune cell activation allows scientists to understand the way the body mounts a response to a specific infection, autoimmune diseases, or cancer. This knowledge plays a direct role in developing more efficacious vaccines and therapies. When tasked with capturing information on immune cell activation, flow cytometry remains the gold standard due to its versatility,…
One of the most powerful methods of modern cellular biology is creating and analyzing RNA libraries via RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). This technique, also called whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing, gives you a snapshot of the transcriptome in question, and can be used to examine alternatively spliced transcripts, post-transcriptional modifications, and changes in gene expression, amongst other applications….
Maybe you want to examine the entire transcriptome or maybe you want to investigate changes in expression from your favorite gene. You could do whole transcriptome sequencing or mRNA-seq. But which one is right for your project? From budget considerations to sample collection, let’s briefly look at both to see which might be best for your…
RNA-seq is based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) and allows for discovery, quantitation and profiling of RNA. The technique is quickly taking over a slightly older method of RNA microarrays to get a more complete picture of gene expression in a cell. Data generated by RNA-seq can illustrate variations in gene expression, identify single nucleotide polymorphisms…
For most molecular biology purposes, DNA is thought of as a string of nucleotides running from 3’ to 5’, and the corresponding mRNA sequence is complementary to this DNA string. However, visualizing this quirky DNA structure for what it is – two antiparallel strands joined together – it quite important for many applications, such as…
What Is Alternative Polyadenylation? Processing of mRNA and its regulation plays a fundamental role in gene expression. As science progresses, alternative polyadenylation takes center stage in the undercurrents of gene expression. 1,2 Polyadenylation is part of the pre-mRNA maturation process and involves polyadenylation of the 3’ end of the emerging RNA. This process happens to…
What Are Non-Coding RNAs? What was once considered “junk” may end up being the most important part of our genome. Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is RNA that is transcribed from DNA but diverts from the “central dogma” because it does not code for proteins. NcRNAs are ubiquitous in eukaryotes: while 90 percent of eukaryotic genomes are…
Commonly, no one thinks much about how the surfaces of labware (like microcentrifuge tubes, test tubes, dishes, etc.) can affect experimental results. We might know when we need to use glass versus plastic. Or we might know that certain chemicals, like chloroform, will interact with some plastic polymers, and you must use polymers that are…
There are many cloning methods that do not require restriction enzymes or ligases. Read below to learn about how to achieve seamless cloning results via Topoisomerase cloning, SLIC, and Gibson. Method #1: Topoisomerase Technology Topoisomerase technology requires no special primers and no ligases – it is as easy as cloning comes. This technology is based…
If you’ve ever worked with proteins in the lab, you probably know just how critical protein purity and quality are for downstream applications. In this article, we’ll review the multitude of problems that are encountered with ‘bad’ protein samples and how you can analyze the purity and integrity of your favorite protein prior to using…
There are a few different ways of approaching site-directed mutagenesis. Here, I’ll give you a quick introduction to inverse PCR and why it’s useful, as well as going through a full protocol for SDM using modified primers!
Ligation independent cloning (LIC) is an easy and effective method to ensure successful cloning, all without the need for ligation. As easy as the technique is, designing primers can be a bit tricky. In this article, we will present a quick overview on primer design for ligation independent cloning.
If you are a Michelin star chef, then your first priority for preparing your signature dish is to use the best ingredients. One rotten potato or one slightly overripe strawberry could ruin not just a dish, but also your reputation. In the laboratory we are (mostly) not cooking rotten potatoes, but we are doing delicate…
Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, better known as ChIP-seq, is a massively parallel approach for understanding the interactions between proteins and DNA. This is especially important for determining the activity of transcription factors, which is why it’s frequently used to learn about the complicated series of biological steps leading to cancer. It’s also key to many epigenetic…
What Is Optical Mapping and How Is It Used? Synchronisation of the contraction of heart muscle is essential for the efficient pumping of blood through the circulatory system. Cardiac contraction is controlled by the regulated spread of electrical impulses from cell-to-cell within the heart. In pathological conditions, these electrical impulses can become disordered and lead…
The decreasing costs in genomic sequencing over the past decade have inspired researchers to apply shotgun next-generation sequencing to entire microbial communities. While the reads generated typically cannot be assembled cleanly into individual genomes, there is often enough information produced to identify most microbes present in the population. However, this approach lacks sufficient resolution to…
Target capture through PCR has been a mainstay in genomics for years, but scientists working on especially repetitive, poorly characterized, or rapidly evolving regions continue to struggle to fish out those stretches of DNA for further study. However, whole genome sequencing, the only other alternative for these regions, can force researchers to pay for much…
Pipettes are not just fancy handlebars for your tips, they are essential for precisely measuring and dispensing liquids. These standard ‘tools of your trade’ enable you to accurately repeat experiments, validate results, make important comparisons between projects and eventually publish that outstanding paper. But there are a few pipette pitfalls. And they don’t just trap…
Kidney Modeling with Kidney Organoids Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Stem cells are a valuable tool for kidney disease modeling as well as experimental regenerative medicine and drug screening. There are more than twenty different cell types in the mature kidney, which adds to the complexity of the model, but also provides the opportunity…
Rapid genomic analysis offered by next generation sequencing (NGS) is ideal for personalized medicine approaches to clinical genetics, microbiological profiling, and diagnostic oncology. Many standard clinical samples are preserved as formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues, which presents obstacles for use in NGS analysis. FFPE tissue preservation has the benefit of keeping samples intact for histological examination…
Construction of high-quality sequencing libraries is pivotal to successful NGS, and DNA quality is one of the most critical aspects of library preparation. As this Nature Methods paper illustrates, DNA shearing involves appropriate and consistent fragment sizes for sensitive and accurate sequencing, and the fragments must be accurately analyzed prior to sequencing to measure molarity…
Monoclonal antibodies are extensively used in research laboratories, diagnostic products and immunotherapy and have multiple advantages over polyclonal antibodies. They exhibit enhanced specificity to single epitopes, have little or no variability, and are easy to modify and customize as required. The History of Monoclonal Antibodies In 1984, Georges Köhler, César Milstein, and Niels Jerne received…
The Genetic Code: A Universal Template for Protein Translation All known organisms share the ‘central dogma’ of molecular biology. DNA is transcribed into mRNA that is translated into protein. During the discovery of the genetic code, Francis Crick hypothesized that translation required a mediator to aid mRNA-guided translation according to a number of specifics. Amongst…
Not all antibodies are valid for every experiment and condition, and they must be validated for the specific application and species. Currently, there is no standard means of “antibody validation,” and this can greatly impact experimental reproducibility and reliability. Journals and granting agencies have taken steps to address this gap. Many now require you to…
Designing a CRISPR experiment can be daunting. We’ve got tips and pointers to help you get off on the right foot.
Used for matching organ transplants to donors and other applications, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is rapidly shifting from older methods to NGS technologies. This is a major step forward, as more complete views of the highly polymorphic HLA genes provide a deeper understanding of how a person’s natural genetic variation might affect transplant matches…
If you want the kind of fluorescent IHC images worth those extra color publication charges, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for tips and tricks to getting stellar IHC staining.
My phone’s email notification went off, and I rolled over in bed to look at the clock. Saturday, 5 am. Wonderful. Who would email me at that hour? It had to be my undergraduate research PI. I unlocked my phone. Yep. Doesn’t he ever sleep? Dear Casey: We are launching a new collaborative project in…
The eBook with top tips from our Researcher community.
