Week 2

     Since there are holidays for the 4th and 5th, my second week in lab has come to a close.

     This week we mainly ran PCRs for ssa2 and sks2. Unfortunately, none of the gels have given us results. Subsequently, we have spent time trying to troubleshoot our methods. We have tried a rerunning the samples (while being more meticulous), running the samples on a temperature gradient, trying samples with new forward and reverse primers, and finally trying the sample on a different machine. Since none of those improved the images we got, Judith recommended that we try using different concentrations of the parts of the PCR (eg less concentrated genomic DNA).

     Fortunately, I have become much more comfortable with making the gels, performing the electrophoresis, and imaging the gels. Judith is an excellent teacher and is always there to help me improve my techniques, expand my knowledge, and answer all of my questions.

   Finally, we ran another part of our western blot. We added rabbit antibodies to get a darker result. Judith explained that the rabbit antibodies are not as specific as the ones we used previously (the rat), and it showed on the picture. There was a significant increase in the unspecific binding, and the image was "dirtier" (the image was darker and there were many sections with a dark haze).

   This week I started commuting by bike to Sanford-Burnham. It is much faster than walking. That is unless you get a flat tire which happened when I tried to return today. It was a lovely walk with my bike on my back!

    I'm looking forward to next week and learning more. So far, it has been very educational and a lot of fun. Judith is a patient and great teacher! I am starting to feel much more comfortable with the pipetting, gel electrophoresis, and the other procedures that we performed.