Old Antibiotics Won’t Spoil Research with this Test
You hold up a bottle of old antibiotic stock solution and wonder if it’s still good? Learn how to qu…
Why Defeating Malaria Is Really Hard for Scientists
Malaria is an ancient disease, but so far, there is still no effective way to eradicate this disease…
Evolution from a Holobiont’s Perspective
Since the second that Darwin stepped off the S.S. Beagle exhilarated by thoughts of how species dive…
A Crash Course on Luciferase Assays
All right, so you’re starting a new project that requires you to use the luciferase assay, and thi…
A Deep Dive Into the Luciferase Assay: What It is, How It Works and More
A luciferase reporter assay is a common assay in molecular biology that uses the luciferase enzyme a…
Bursting the Bubble, Slaying the `Rat King’
So, you’ve tricked your favorite E. coli expression strain into making gobs of your protein of i…
Overview of T4 DNA Ligase: What it is, how it works, reactions, and more
T4 DNA ligase is an enzyme that fixes broken DNA and seals it – similar to super glue. This particul…
FGF1 Subfamily (FGF1 and FGF2)
The FGF1 subfamily of Fibroblast Growth Factors was the first of the FGFs to be isolated and identif…
Colorful Life under the Sea from Bioluminescence to Ultra Black
Oceans and seas covers most of the Earth’s surface, performing many important functions for our plan…
Shades of Green – Finding the Variables in Plant Research
s children, we’re often taught complex subjects in very simplified ways. Life was easier in black an…
More Food Choices On the Apocalyptic Menu
“Lois, everyone knows there are only two things that can survive a [nuclear] holocaust: cockroaches…
Nutritional Consequences When Enjoying Too Much of a Good Thing
It’s a warm, humid evening. The sun is low. Birds begin their evening songs. And in the soccer field…
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs)
The Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) were first discovered and named by Marshall Urist in 1965 as…
The Postdoc’s Guide to Tenure-Track Positions
With tenure track positions being few and far between and thousands of applicants to each position…
Why Test for Mycoplasma in My Cell Culture?
What is Mycoplasma?Cell culture is a cornerstone technique for biologicalresearch laboratories. Ce…
Ultimate Guide to Cresol Red: What it is, what it’s for, how to use it
Cresol red is a triarylmethane dye and it can be used as an alternative loading dye for gel electrop…
Luciferase-based Reporter Assay Troubleshooting Guide
The luciferase-based reporter assay is one of the most commonly used tools in molecular biology to s…
Maybe Dracula had it right? – Growth Factor in blood of young mice responsible for heart tissue rejuvenation in older mice.
In a remarkable paper published in the May 9th edition of Cell, two researchers at the Harvard Stem…
EGF, EGFRs and their Role in Cancer
Ever since the beginning of our awareness of growth factors in the early 1960’s by Stanley Cohen and…
This vs. That – Your Guide to Choosing Between Similar Reagents
There are a lot of products in the lab that do similar things but were developed for a specialized…
The Top Scientific Discoveries and Breakthroughs of 2019
As the end of 2019 nears, we look back at the many impactful scientific breakthroughs of this past y…
What’s in your Yard? Planting More Native Plants to Boost Biodiversity
In the U.S., over 900 plant species are listed as endangered or threatened. When compared to more th…
The History of Luciferin and Luciferase
Who discovered luciferin? The history of unraveling the chemical reaction behind bioluminescence sta…
What is a BSE/TSE Certificate and Why Should You Care?
TSE Certificates come packaged with products that could potentially have TSE risk, such as BSA (…