Cancer Research Prevention and Training Program

Undergraduate trainee positions are available through the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas training grant for this upcoming summer. Applications are due very soon. MAY 2, 2011!!! More details can be found in here.

Hi,
My RNA concentration from Round Two turned out to be much more concentrated than my sample yielded from Round One (by roughly 200 ng). Does this mean that my round two sample was contaminated?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Stephanie Tutak

Time Conflict and Registration

Posted by Tianlu

I have a time conflict with the lecture section next semester. What do I need to do to deal with that?

Thank you!

Dr. Gwen

For those who haven't heard, Gwen is now Dr. Gwen. Congratulate her on Friday in class...big milestone crossed.

Lysozyme R1 failure

Is anybody doing Lysozyme and got a large yield from their round 1 transcription? My first round failed and I their is no more R0 pool :( So if can someone donate me some of their RNA I will gladly appreciated it :)

my email: alanis_giovanna@yahoo.com

R0 Pool

For those who needed round 0 pool we are currently out of all round 0 RNA. More RNA can be prepared but it will take about a week to create new pool.

Industry Internship Opportunity

In case you guys don't know there are a few more opportunities for scientists beyond academics. Ambion/Life Technologies has an opening for a summer intern to work on affinity reagents for protein analysis. More information about the opportunity can be found on the link below. Those interested should email Gwen to get more information about the final application.

https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/ASP/TG/cim_jobdetail.asp?partnerid=25196&siteid=5149&AReq=6387BR&Codes=campus

Failure

Right about now, you are likely starting to realize that science is hard. You may be frustrated that you've put all this time into lab to find out one of the first steps failed and you have to start over. How you recover from the failure is what will set you apart.

Today, Lifehacker has a great little piece on failure. There is a wealth of research on the art of failure and how it triggers a pain sensor that helps us learn more deeply. Wired also posted an article about James Dyson. Science is about failure and learning where the problem is. In the Wired article, the best line:

On the road to invention, failures are just problems that have yet to be solved.

You are just starting to learn how to fail at science. Did your PAGE gel fail? Why? You should be asking "why" more than wallowing in self pity that you'll have to repeat it. Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results". So don't repeat your failed experiment exactly the same. Being able to detect and understand why something failed is the hallmark of a good scientist. Learning from these mistakes is the hallmark of a great scientist. Einstein also wrote, "The only source of knowledge is experience". Don't be afraid to experience lab. Don't be afraid to fail. Fail with gusto!

Use this semester to learn as much as you can about every reaction you perform. What are the limits? What are the corners you could cut? Does the PCR really need that much primer?

UPDATE: 4-21-11. I just got an email about a TED talk concerned with being wrong. It is great, and highly recommend you watch it (kinda long though for a TED talk...). You learn and can think a lot more when you aren't afraid of being wrong. It's called thinking outside the box. Try it with selections and you could invent the next new technique or find the cure to cancer!

Register for Fall Research

There have been some discussions on the Facebook group and in some comments here, but I wanted to make sure it's clear. You are not required to register for the fall after taking the spring course, but it is HIGHLY encouraged and recommended. If you volunteer or get a fellowship for the summer, then you are expected to return in the fall to continue your work. The fall is set up much different that the spring. Much more independent wherein you get to propose a target and work on what you are interested in. Gwen will likely delve more into the published literature. 10 hours of lab a week.

You can only get one credit for either Ch 204 or Bio 205L. The only two options for credit in the fall are independent research courses: CH369K or BIO377. Unlike the spring, there are no conference courses for the fall.

(1) 50265 BIO 377 - Undergraduate Research-FRI
(2) 51845 CH 369K - Techniques of Research-FRI
Instructor: Hall, Bradley (though will change when Gwen officially graduates)
Lecture: WAG Tues 4-5:00 pm

There is no requirement, however, that you stick with the school with which you registered in the spring. Thus if you take spring CH204, you can take fall BIO377. Check with your advisor for which (likely both) counts toward your major. In certain instances (Microbiology and Pharm I think), the independent research must be in BIO or maybe it doesn't count? Don't quote me though.

As for the time/day of the lecture, you are HIGHLY encouraged to set this time free. But if you absolutely CANNOT make the lecture, other arrangements could be set. We would much rather have you continue with the Aptamer than quit because you couldn't fit the lecture in during the fall.

Credit for next semester!

if i claimed for biology lab credit and if i want to continue with this stream next semester, can i claim for chemistry lab credit too? or do i have to claim upper devision biology lab credit?

T-shirt moniessss

Soooooo I do not have a quote for you guys on the t-shirts yet :( Last lecture I said the money was due tomorrow, but I'm going to push that back to next Wednesday (4/13). I'll try to post the cost this weekend ASAP.

Thanks!!

Registration

Posted by Tianlu Ma

If we want to register for the fall 2011 semester, do we register for Brad's section (Unique: 51845)? And what do we do if we want to continue in the stream but that section does not fit into our schedule?

Thanks!

Maltotriose - almost

There was a problem with the maltotriose order :( and it was reordered today. We should receive it "soon."

The maltotriose is a sugar substrate & used to generate the "closed" MBP conformation.

Please feel free to ask me about it again in a couple of days, if you don't see it around lab.

Thank you,
Gwen