a girl and some genes

side blog about science and life 2nd year phd student in human genetics @valnoren is my main/fan account

[excavatinglizard]

What is your solvent of choice

whether for cleaning, synthesis, or any other purpose. I’m curious.

Solvent?

water

Ethanol

IPA

Acetone

THF

Toluene

Chloroform

hexane

Op you forgot—

bald/what’s a solvent/what’s a chemistry

Remaining time: 3 days 4 hours

Put what chem/etc you do in the tags (bio people I see you)

[justsomegenes]

6.1.26

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

the best study buddy

the first day of quals is over for two in my cohort and they both passed 🎉 so happy for them but also it has made me even more anxious

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

[art-and-academica-antics]

Lab focused semester

The thing I love about art conservation and restoration is how interdisciplinary it is - no matter which profession I talk to, I will always find a common topic

[misslittlephysicist]

The more I read the less I know how the fuck does this work??????

[popcornstudies]

Just a reminder as many of us start approaching finals:

Finals are a final exam, a test. Not a final verdict on knowledge or talent or promise or worth.

Study hard, do your best. But also congratulate yourself for getting this far, for all the hard work you have done to get to this point.

There is nothing to prove. You are already good enough, and there's nothing that can change that ❤️

[soreia1]

♡ ︵ may 30, 2026˚₊· ₊˚ˑ༄

yesterday was so much fun ♡ finished up my matlab code and finally got my particle analysis workflow where i want it. also learned how to make a two-phase solution in lab (organic + aquaeous)

chem ppl don't yell at me, if that term is wrong ( ＞Д＜；)

[joytri]

[velartis]

Franz Kafka, 1912

[justsomegenes]

5.28.26

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t-minus 11 days until my board exam and trying really hard not to get overly stressed - however the dreams about it have begun like people in my program said they would 😅

✎ remaining topics to cover:

computational methods

read papers relevant to talk

pathways

memorize facts

cancer progression

mobile elements

Mendelian randomization

📚 just started listening to A Court of Mist and Fury, still reading Redshirts

🎮 been playing lots of Metroid Dread and its so frustrating but so fun

❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃ ❃

[pefkaes]

15.05.2026 // topsy-turvy state of mind

writing has been equally frustrating and rewarding. thankfully, i am not the only one who feels that way; my officemates also seem to be on the same boat. work has picked up as it is the end of the semester. while teaching has been fun, i am looking forward to the break.

[missys-mansion-of-mistakes]

May 10th, 2026. Sunday. || SUPER productive day!

I don't know how, but I majorly locked in today. I felt like I was working very slow but I think that kept my stamina up. By noon I only had difficult tasks left, and instead of giving up I decided to face them head-on. So worth it!

What I accomplished:

Put all laundry away

Created a backlog of social media posts

Wrote 1000 words in the new book

Wrote 1 Slowly letter

Wrote bullet journal entry

Postcrossing 1 hour

Spent 30 minutes on social media (good)

Decided how to combine/setup TH chapters

Set up more Y2 stuff

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

I love that literally everything about how academics works in this episode is wrong except for when Scully is like “no, you don’t get it they’re literally murderous levels of petty.” Go off queen.

[justsomegenes]

5.1.26

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

the stress is building and i am tired

at least my class is almost over and the final next week is open note. i also have an idea now of what my thesis talk will be, but getting the details right it has been difficult

hope everyone has a restful weekend ~

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

[justsomegenes]

4.26.26

⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎

aaaa ive started working on my thesis proposal talk and im scared its getting real- not many thoughts except i am tired wish me luck

I have been able to go on a lot of walks and runs with my dog lately which is very nice

I finished ACOTAR, I liked it a good amount even though I don't read much romance. I think I'll end up reading the second one too

📚 Redshirts

🎶 fall out boy - again, makes me feel nostalgic i love it

🧶 finished Elden ring turtle 1, now to start the second one

⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎ ⛅︎

[isolawildest]

feeling like an academic victim at this point of the semester :’))

[justsomegenes]

4.2.26

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Hi~ I've had this in my drafts for a bit and totally forgot about it

Life has been very busy since starting to study for my doctoral board oral exam and I've been doing less lab work to focus on that so I don't have many pictures

i have started collaging/junk journaling so maybe i will post those occasionally plus thoughts about dbo exam studying

Other random hobbies lately:

📚 just finished Annihilation; next Court of Thorns and Roses

🧶 making little turtle amigurumi for my husband and friend

🕹️ Cities: Skylines

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

[justsomegenes]

Wanted to show off the crochet DNA plushie I recently made!

Made it for a guy in my cohort's new baby, since we're in a genetics PhD program. Took a while to figure out and sew together, but I'm so happy with how it came out!

Below are some details of the patterns I used if anyone is interested

I used dk weight cotton yarn and size 2.5mm hook with this pattern:

DNA Model - crochet w/ link to knit

DNA Model- a crochet pattern based on the knitting pattern by Kimberly Chapman at http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/knit-patterns-dna.html

I also referenced this post for more photos on what it should look like and how to assemble it (which was quite difficult lol)