All Posts

This post was contributed by Joe James from Binning Singletons.

The sheer scale of a large conference can be intimidating. And it can be exacerbated when everyone seems to know one another, but they don’t know you. First time attendees and those attending alone often feel this even more, because they don’t have the networks or experience to get the most of meeting. 

I experienced this at the ASM General Meeting (now Microbe) in 2013 in Denver, CO. While I had been to the General Meeting seven other times I had subsequently changed fields and my cohort of friends and colleagues had moved on as well, so I knew very few people. I didn’t really fit in anywhere and everyone who was doing the kind of work my lab wanted to do already seemed to know each other and what to do. 

In December, we introduced you to Blugene’s new virus friend (they/them/theirs). But, they didn’t have a name. Last month, we collected suggestions for names and we’ve recently chosen four names as finalists. Now, we’re asking you to help us make the decision between some meaningful names….

Before you reach for that silica spin column, stop to consider some ways to purify DNA without a kit. DNA purification kits have advantages: they are convenient and provide uniform, consistent results. But they are also less accessible due to their expense and requirement for lab equipment. Plus they create plastic waste. Kits can also have the annoying tendency to runout right when you need them and to accumulate a bunch of unused buffers because you’ve run out of columns.

One thing many scientists enjoy is discussion of current new and exciting literature. As I transitioned out of academia and away from the bench I certainly had concerns that I may not have time to stay current or enjoy that discussion. Luckily, one needn't worry if they choose to move away from academic science; there is most likely abundant opportunity to continue such discussions. Beyond the excitement of learning about new cutting edge science, researchers of all varieties must stay current with literature and emerging technologies to remain competitive and relevant.

Enter: the journal club. 

The ocean is full of striking visuals from fluorescent jellyfish, bioluminescent phytoplankton, and colorful corals, to name a few. What’s behind these sights are an abundance of biological molecules like chromoproteins, fluorescent proteins, and luminescent proteins. While fluorescent proteins and luminescence have been widely used in biological research for a long time, chromoproteins are just now being developed for a broad range of biological inquiries.