Entering graduate school is more than getting a degree after completing your undergraduate and learning a sophisticated technical skill in the lab.When you start as a graduate student, there is a high-level skill to master immediately. This skill is managing and...

Stable and transient plant transformation are both very common methods used in plant research.With stable transformation, the foreign DNA taken up by the host is fully and permanently integrated into the host genome and the genetic modifications are present in further...

More than 2000 years ago, Aristotle wondered about “a cold fire,” illuminating from the woods. He referred it as “glowing, rotting tree bark” although the light he saw actually came from fungi.The glowing fungi are an enchanting and bizarre phenomenon, truly occurring...

Finding the right antibody for your protein immunoassays can be challenging. An antibody, which works well for an assay, may fail to work in another assay. Therefore, this article will provide you with helpful information about the differences between two widely used...

A good signal detection is necessary for the reproducibilityof research findings when a researcher performs protein immunoassays. One certainway to obtain good immunoassay results is by selecting a secondary antibodythat matches your primary antibody.But what are...

In cloning, a vector is a DNA molecule used as a vehicle to artificially carry foreign genetic material into another cell, where it can be replicated and expressed.A vector allows you to create transgenic organisms with improved traits or to understand a gene or...

Writing a thesis or a dissertation can be a challenging process for many graduate students. There are so many chapters to complete, and writing each individual chapter requires an immense amount of hard work and a strong motivation.On top of that, every time you are...

Cell viability assays are used by many researchers to evaluate cell health. This assay category is useful for experimental optimization, understanding cell metabolism, studying the effects of a certain treatment, etc. In this article, we will specifically focus on the...

The road to obtain a graduate degree is unquestionably long. But we have ten incredibly helpful steps for writing your graduate research proposal. When you finally reach your destination, it will all be worthwhile.As a graduate student, when you start your journey,...

With the different types of substrates out there, how do you choose which luciferin substrate to use for your experiment?For the most common bioluminescence work, you’ll typically want to choose either D-luciferin sodium salt or D-luciferin potassium salt. However,...

It’s the final year in graduate school, and you might be worrying about how to find a job. The steps scientists should take to land their dream job are:Begin your initial job search.Know the essential skills for the role.Know what your skills are and what needs to be...

As a long-time plant scientist, I have discovered four important factors that influence in vitro plant regeneration: plant material, explant selection, modulation of components in culture media, and modifications of culture conditions.Furthermore, the plant...

Tris (tris base) vs. tris HCl – what’s the difference? The quick answer is that tris is a basic buffer, whereas tris HCl is the acidic buffer. Keep in mind, buffers are used to resist changes to pH. Even small concentrations of a strong acid or base, without a buffer,...

When considering a medium for plant regeneration, there are a lot of considerations for optimizing and designing something that will be effective for what you’re working with. Different tissues, explants, even the stages are going to play a role in how you design your...

What is Isothermal AmplificationIn molecular biology, when it comes to copying nucleic acid sequences, PCR gets all the glory. But there is another, less common term floating around: isothermal amplification, and maybe it’s got you wondering, “well, what is that...

In vitro plant regeneration is the process of growing plants using tissue culture techniques. Plant regeneration can be achieved by culturing explants to form organs (organogenesis), or by developing plant embryos (somatic embryogenesis). Both techniques can lead to...

Honey bees are remarkable creatures. They are social insects living together harmoniously in the same colony. The hierarchy of a single colony consists of different adult ranks: a queen, several drones, and a large number of workers—up to 20,000 to 80,000 workers in a...

The gate to the pet carrier opened, and out came Littles, not shy at all. She sniffed around corners and explored her new territory. Upon discovering the three other cats and a border collie, she took no time in establishing herself as the alpha in the...

Malaria is an ancient disease, but so far, there is still no effective way to eradicate this disease. According to the WHO, in 2019, malaria took 409,000 lives worldwide. What’s concerning is 274,000 deaths were children under 5 years of age.Malaria occurs in more...

T4 DNA ligase is an enzyme that fixes broken DNA and seals it – similar to super glue. This particular DNA ligase was isolated from bacteriophage T4. During DNA replication or recombination, a break or a ‘nick’ in the backbone of DNA frequently occurs. Afterwards, the...

It’s a warm, humid evening. The sun is low. Birds begin their evening songs. And in the soccer field, there is an odd sight. Among the children, most of whom are not paying attention, the coach is limping around the kids. She’s a little bit hunched over, sometimes...

Cresol red is a triarylmethane dye and it can be used as an alternative loading dye for gel electrophoresis to monitor the progress of a running gel.This dye is also used as an acid-base indicator, or pH indicator. pH indicators give an approximate value of pH of a...

In the U.S., over 900 plant species are listed as endangered or threatened. When compared to more than 250,000 vascular plants worldwide, this number seems very small. Vascular plants move water, nutrients, and minerals from the roots to the leaves and back to the...

During tissue culture work, finding unwanted contaminated culture flasks can create many issues, including a question about the data validity from the past and current experiments.Depending on the source of contaminants, you can detect cell culture contamination by...