#egfp

[adorable-amygdala]

January 2019 Just imaged this Very Good Neuron I’ll try to update this blog with more of my science, once all my animal use paperwork gets done.

[pyrolitheus]

Science Rambles...

I finally failed at something in a lab class and that’s never happened to me before so I weirdly feel like celebrating? All it took was getting to a 400-level (USA standards) Molecular Biosciences major course called “Advanced Methods in Molecular Biology” and finally I am finding things to be finicky and difficult. Anyway, there’s this super cool thing that bacteria can do where they store bits of genetic information on tiny DNA loops called “plasmids.” They can share those plasmids with each other, and the receiving bacteria can incorporate that genetic information directly into their own genome, allowing bacteria to evolve genetically without bothering to reproduce. How cool and ridiculously weird is that?! It’s also super useful for us scientists, because it makes it super easy to genetically engineer bacteria to express (aka produce) almost any protein. All we have to do is put the genetic sequence we want into a loop that is formatted correctly for the bacterium to “read,” give the cell membranes a bit of a temperature shock and chemical massage to loosen them up, and then shove those engineered plasmids into the bacteria cells. Then we give them a nice bath and a snack to pep them up because that was a pretty rough process. Wanna farm insulin (which is a protein) with bacteria? We already do! This is one of the main ways it’s manufactured. Anyway, genetically engineering a safe strain of E. coli to produce GFP (aka Green Fluorescent Protein, which is from jellyfish) so that it will glow in UV light if the bacteria is growing in the presence of lactose has become one of the really common standard lab projects done in cell biology classes all over the place because it’s easy and fun. I’ve actually done it no problem in like 3 or 4 different classes so far. But then this happened:

This is a grid of 16 test samples, with two controls at the bottom. That glowy patch at the bottom is the positive control. The one next to it is the negative control. They validate the whole plate. The other 16? If my cells had been successful in taking up a plasmid which codes for GFP, some or all of them would be glowing. But not even one is. So what was different this time? We got to make the plasmid ourselves, which is generally such a high-level skill and time-consuming series of tasks that college instructors don’t do it themselves when prepping for this lab. Instead, they usually just order manufactured plasmids that are designed just for this experiment and are ready to go. Even in some of the labs I’ve worked in, scientists will pay HUGE money to custom order specific plasmids instead of trying to make their own. There are 10 people in my class. Only 3 people got successful results and the instructor was not surprised. This is hard. We get more chances to try again of course, and I am looking forward to it. I just wanted to share my first spectacular lab fail with the world because it comes with a pretty picture. If people mention in the notes that they want me to explain how the plasmids are made, I will.

[davidrussellschilling]

The Future of Human Genome Editing

The Future of Human Genome Editing

C O N T E N T S:

KEY TOPICS

People can and will continue to pick nits off that figure (once you factor in energy costs and a decent hourly rate for the technicians, you?ve almost certainly passed the $1,000 mark), but there?s no doubt that for institutions reading whole human genomes at scale, sequencing has never been faster or cheaper.(More…)

KEY WORDS: bioethics, biomedical ethics, disease,…

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[thekikomarsman]

Counting bacteria colonies in lab #biochemistry #lab #EGFP

[glitchikinnsblog]

egfp said: If you ever create more artwork in this style, please share. I would be happy to see it (as I always do with all of your other amazing artworks, of course). :)

Awwww you're always such a sweetie <3 I was actually working on a Hanji to go with it tonight because I wanted to practice the same kind of stuff again but I got super distracted and my attention span has run out as it is wont to do after work, so I'll have to finish it tomorrow.

[glitchikinnsblog]

egfp said: I don’t drink or smoke either. I don’t drink coffee either. :)

birds of a feather, I don't drink coffee either!

[glitchikinnsblog]

egfp said: I read it, and it has a very interesting storyplot and some good humor. Good luck with finishing it.

Thanks! <3 The comic will only be finished if I pass the audition. Here's hoping I get in!

[glitchikinnsblog]

egfp said: The facial expression on the person who is eating amuses me (in a good way). Good luck with your comic.

 egfp said: Will you be posting your comic online for everyone to read? :o

Just did! Thanks, it was meant to be funny. :D