RNase is a nuclease, which is an enzyme that breaks down nucleic acids such as RNA and DNA into smaller units. Nucleases are present in every cell, and upon lysis during an extraction procedure, these enzymes come into contact with precious DNA and RNA.Preventing...

What is a Protease?Proteases are important reagents in biotechnology and molecular biology laboratories. The use of proteases is often necessary to inactivate protein contaminants in our prepared samples.Proteases are enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of a protein...

With social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube and Facebook, more scientists and science hobbyists are entering the scene as overall promoters of scientific advancement.Science advocates have made us more aware of the effects of pandemic,...

Who has time for practice? Mostly no one, not when it comes to manuscript writing anyway. But in case that time comes up, or you have a student needing help, or a colleague needing a little advice, here are some quick manuscript skill-building exercises.These tools...

What are lyophilized reagentsLyophilization, or freeze-drying, is a preservation process that removes water from material in order to further shelf life and stability.Methods of freeze-drying, especially for food preservation, have been employed for thousands of...

The first thing a person doing literary research will see is a research publication title. After that, it’s the abstract. These are the first tools that help the reader decide if this journal article is going to help them find what they're looking for or not.In this...

In molecular biology, the real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) method is a favorite research tool for many scientists. This method is relatively easy to prepare, fast, accurate, and sensitive enough to amplify even one single copy of a particular sequence. Real-time qPCR...

Leonardo Da Vinci famously said, “While you are alone you are entirely your own master.”We’re all spending more time alone and “mastering” ourselves, or trying our best to work and live in a healthy way, which can be really difficult.Fear not!There is an opportunity...

In all of its grandeur, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) grants scientists power over genome. Generating ample supply of DNA segments from relatively small samples, PCR is an essential element of the biological sciences.Whether you are a novice or a veteran, it’s...

Gel electrophoresis is a molecular biology method used to analyze and separate DNA fragments based on their size. When you use gel electrophoresis to help you with molecular cloning, you will also need to be able to interpret and analyze the results of your gel.For...

An antibiotic is an antimicrobial chemical that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms. Antibiotics have been used for a long time to cure many deadly infections, such as bubonic plaque, diphtheria, and tuberculosis.The mechanisms of action of antibiotics...

What are Satellite Colonies?While screening bacterial colonies using antibiotic selection pressure, you may notice a few small colonies growing around a large colony on the plate.These small colonies are satellite colonies and the large colony is the colony of...

You’ve probably learned about the Asian giant hornet by its nickname, the “murder hornet” from the news. Asian giant hornets get their intimidating nickname from killing honey bees. Unfortunately, this nickname causes fear that these hornets will target human too....

We know it’s been a difficult time for everyone, and somepeople are even a little cautious about returning to life in the lab. But factoring in health andsafety concerns for everyone involved – and when the time is right - it’s stillnice to think about our first day...

An effective introduction section of a scientific article will form a good first impression by the readers or reviewers. This introduction section contains background information about your research.For many journals with the IMRAD (introduction, methods, results, and...

At this point, we’ve become very aware that good sources for our papers are peer-reviewed sources. That’s easy enough. The daunting part is finding those good sources, ones that are specifically relevant to our own work, and ones we have access to and can clearly...

Your lab notebook is a foundation to your research manuscript. It serves almost as a rudimentary draft of your research story. A well-kept laboratory notebook not only leads to effective reporting but it also reduces headache.In the beginning, when first keeping a lab...

A quality research paper has both the qualities of in-depth research and good writing (Bordage, 2001). In addition, a research paper must be clear, concise, and effective when presenting the information in an organized structure with a logical manner (Sandercock,...

Why should data be visually presented?We as people are visual in nature, and presenting data in visual figures allows readers to quickly get the information they need to draw important conclusions. Visualizing data allows readers to clearly see relationships,...

Without a DNA ladder, it wouldn’t be possible to accurately analyze your DNA samples. DNA ladders contain standard-sized fragments of DNA. Because their molecular weights are known, researchers can quickly compare their samples with the DNA ladder in the same gel to...

Catnip is a popular plant among cat owners because it makes their cat more playful. Some cat owners use catnip to avoid cat boredom, give it as a treat to train their cat, or to make their cat happy and active.Within seconds of sniffing dried catnip, your cat’s eyes...

There has been a recent push toward developing programs and workshops focused on improving writing skills for scientists. Science writing is crucial within the research community, refining these skills is necessary.In this article, we highlight a few grammatical rules...

Antibiotic resistance has become our worst nightmare worldwide. In hospitals around the world, currently the common treatment for bacterial infections is antibiotics. However, some strains of bacteria have developed resistance against nearly all antibiotic drugs. Due...

Some people who have been in academia for a while are familiar with this term: postdoctoral researcher (a postdoc). Likewise, many undergraduate students in the sciences have heard the term. It’s a path they may one day take, but it still is a little vague. For those...