Today, we're featuring Liz from @liz.thescientist, a Phd student at the University of Oxford studying the innate immune response to virus infections. On her instagram channel she shares her life as a woman in science, everyday glimpses of her lab work and research, and does excellent walk-throughs of various useful lab techniques and skills that are commonly used in scientific research! She has a passion for science and science communication and her channel has a wealth of resources on grad life and careers in STEM - from the application process to interview tips, and more!
Meet Laura, from @techingonscience! Laura is a medical laboratory assistant working at the National Health Service (NHS), who advocates for diversity in STEM and shares honest advice on overcoming setbacks in a career in science. Her account is filled with amazing pictures of stained tissues, and bite-sized snapshots of her daily life in the lab.
Take a glimpse into her journey to finding her passion for laboratory science with us, as we discuss the importance of inclusivity, mental health, and of course, some cool things about working in a histopathology lab!
This week, we are excited to share our interview with Dr. Stacia Nicholson! Stacia is a Post Doctoroal Research Fellow at Columbia University studying the impact of lead/air pollution exposure various brain diseases. On her blog and instagram channel, @aliquotthesciencespot, Stacia makes scientific topics accessible to non-scientists and shares her journey as a black woman in science!
Meet Amal! She is a structural biologist doing a post doc on G-protein coupled receptors and a passionate science communicator. As the first member of her family to pursue a scientific career, Amal started her instagram channel @science_phd_creative to share behind-the-scenes of life as a scientist. Since then, she's been sharing her knowledge, connecting with other science communicators, and helping to motivate and inspire the next generation of scientists!
Meet Nicky from @nicky_in_genetics! Nicky’s channel chronicles her journey since she started as a Molecular Genetics undergrad at the University of Sussex all the way to her current adventures as a PhD student studying the Bacillus thuringiensis bacterium and the Cry41Aa toxin. She’s got a unique perspective to share as a mature student and mother of two. Her posts show the highs and lows of research life as well as explanations about scientific topics and lab techniques - great stuff!
This week, we'd like to introduce you to Denny from @denny.the.scientist! He is an infectious disease researcher pursuing his PhD at Western University, and he specializes in studying the fascinating world of pathogens and diseases all around us. His channel contains a plethora of tips and advice on pursuing a PhD, updates on his experiments performed in the lab, and of course, hilarious doses of science memes.
This week, we had the wonderful opportunity to interview Chandler from @gproteincoupledresearcher! She is a biochemist pursuing her PhD at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and she specializes in studying - you might’ve guessed it - G-protein coupled receptors ! Her channel is filled to the brim with advice for managing academic stress and mental health, stories from her PhD journey, and snippets of her personal life outside of the lab.
This week, we had the wonderful opportunity to interview Chandler from @gproteincoupledresearcher! She is a biochemist pursuing her PhD at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and she specializes in studying - you might’ve guessed it - G-protein coupled receptors ! Her channel is filled to the brim with advice for managing academic stress and mental health, stories from her PhD journey, and snippets of her personal life outside of the lab.
Meet Kimberly! a passionate neuropathology PhD student studying the role of tau in development and disease. Her channel @thepathphd! features pathology-related content, how to videos for culturing cells, her life and work experiences and much more! Read on to find out about her advice for aspiring scientists, as well as how to deal with failures and maintain a work-life balance.
Introducing Eleni from @neuroscientist.at.work! Eleni is a neuroscientist in the midst of her PhD program! Her channel is full of fascinating timelapses of brain dissections and other fun things in the lab.
This week, we interviewed Eleni to hear more about her journey to neuroscience and some valuable advice on how to balance the many activities in grad school and emerge with a fulfilling grad experience!
This week, we're introducing Tom from @iamphaged! Tom is a PhD student researching microbiology/phage-host interactions. His instagram blog is full of tidbits about what it's like to work with bacteriophages and his experiences as a graduate student.
We interviewed him to learn more about how he handles the various challenges of grad school and his thoughts on science communcation.
Welcome Stina from @Stina.Biologista! Stina is a #firstgen PhD student in Sweden studying neuroscience. Navigating the challenges of working, studying, and scientific research in multiple languages, Stina shares her passion for the neuroscience behind affective eating disorders and more.
Welcome Swapnali from @caffeinatedscientist_! Fueled by strong black coffee and equal amounts of determination, Swapnali shares her journey through undergrad to graduate school and beyond. Her instagram blog is filled with fun timelapses at the culture hood and doodles from her notebooks.
In this interview, Swapnali shares her advice on staying organized and how to take care of mental health while navigating the busy world of grad school!
This week, Taz from @taz.science! joins us to share how graduate life is like from her point of view and how she went from pursuing medical school to studying vaccines for Lyssaviruses.
Read on about her milestones and her advice on how to deal with setbacks in research, her thoughts on making time for science communication, and more!
We'd like to welcome Morgan from @virus.vs.labcoat! Her channel is full of snapshots of her day-to-day labwork as well as personal insights into challenges she's faced as she navigates her PhD program and how she's overcome them.
We've been discussing a lot about the importance of science communication in fighting the infodemic and we're lucky enough to have a virologist like Morgan to share her thoughts on the topic. Read on to join the discussion!
This week, we're welcoming Emily, from @_biochemily_! She uses instagram to share her passion for cancer research and to journal her day-to-day challenges and victories. Her instagram channel is full of funny and relatable tidbits about science and her research life.
Being a scientist is about being resilient! Read on to get to know Emily's journey and how she saw herself grow as she wraps up her PhD program.
This week, we're introducing Susan and Hayley, science communicators putting their hearts and minds into cancer research and making it accessible for all! On their Instagram account @cancer.research.demystified, they debunk common cancer myths and share lab techniques for cancer research.
We were lucky enough to get a chance to ask them a few questions about their journey to becoming cancer research scientists!
Meet Maria Ibrahim, a science communicator and PhD student studying Cancer Biology and Molecular Biosciences. Maria uses her Instagram account @girlmeetsscience to share her journey in research with others and give tips for staying organized and productive!
We had the amazing opportunity to ask Maria a few questions about her research, the challenges she's faced as a Master's and PhD student and her advice on how to stay focused and organized.
Meet Daisy from @eyedaisyshu, a postdoc who's traveled halfway around the world on a mission to study retinal eye diseases. Daisy uses her Instagram and Twitter accounts to share information about her research, short videos from the lab and updates on her travels. We got the chance to ask Daisy a few questions to learn more about her and her research!!
Meet Tori Quintana, a science communicator and PhD student studying Cancer biology. Through her Instagram account @tinybutmightyscientist Tori shares the challenges and accomplishments she experiences both in her professional and personal life, and shares the advice she's learned! We got the chance to ask Tori a few questions about her research, her hobbies and her experience as a women in STEM. !
Meet Jen, also known as "A Bookish Scientist" on Instagram (@abookishscientist). She is a first year Cancer Biology PhD student and bookworm, who recommends good books and gives PhD tips to her follower base of almost 10K on Instagram!!
Meet Sophie Arthur from @soph.talks.science, an award-winning science & education blogger. She currently works for the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences as their scicomm officer.!
Her job is to share the world leading medical research her colleagues do! She does this through social media by creating content for their website, filming videos, hosting events for schools and the general public and so much more!
In this blog post we feature Sarah Miller from @t.cell.sarah, an Australian Instagram science communicator and T cell researcher.
In this blog post we feature Lauren Callender from @lozcallender_ and @science.scribbles, an Instagram science communicator and science sticker creator.
Delivering genes into cells isn’t easy—especially when the gene is bulky and sticky or if the cell is stubborn and curmudgeonly. But, not to worry, our gene delivery crew is so charming that your cells will lay down the welcome mat!
Check back each week as we introduce you to your friendly neighborhood gene delivery crew: Lentivirus, Adenovirus, AAV, Retrovirus, HSV, Baculovirus, Protein Vector, and ORF. Each member has its own expertise—get to know the crew so you can deploy the right crew-member to the right culture dish!
In the first addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, learn what makes lentivirus different from other viral delivery systems, and the advantages of choosing to use lentivirus in your experiments!
In the second addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, learn what makes adenovirus different from other viral delivery systems, and the advantages of choosing to use adenovirus in your experiments.
In the third addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, we'll introduce you to the Adeno-associated virus (AAV), a small but powerful viral delivery system. An up-and-coming hero of the gene therapy world, AAVs are being used to deliver gene therapies for a wide range of diseases - from heart failure to retinal dystrophy - accounting for almost 8% of all vectors used in gene therapy clinical trials. Learn the advantages of choosing to use AAV in your experiments.
Disco balls, bell bottoms, and perms, oh my! The retrovirus knows how to throw down a dance party with dividing cells. In the fourth addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, we'll introduce you to the retrovirus system, a viral system that only infects dividing cells. Any genes the retrovirus delivers will stick around in the cell long after the party's over. Learn what are the advantages of choosing to use retrovirus in your experiments in the article below!
Sometimes less is more! Return to simpler times for an inexpensive way to get your gene of interest. In the fifth addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, we'll introduce you to ORF, a team player that can help you clone your gene into other vectors. Learn the advantages of choosing to use ORFs in your experiments in the article below!
If you're looking to express glycoproteins or membrane proteins, then baculovirus is the perfect virus to help you with your gene expression experiments. In the sixth addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, we'll introduce you to the baculovirus system, a viral system that can delivery any gene, no matter how large. Learn more about baculovirus and why you should consider using it in your experiment in the article below!
Say hello to the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), a resourceful virus that will find a way to deliver large transgenes into a variety of cells! In particular, it enjoys spending time in brainy locales like neurons, but this most courteous guest won't impose itself, being a non-integrative virus. In this seventh addition to our Vectors and Viruses Spotlight Series, find out why you should consider using the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) system for your gene expression projects!
This week's Vector and Virus Spotlight is on the Protein Vector, an expression system that can be tailor made for protein purification - a pure delight to work with! Learn about why protein vectors can be useful for your protein expression needs.
Get a step-by-step protocol on how to amplify your adenoviruses from a seed stock and use them for your transduction experiment. Recombinant adenovirus suppliers will often provide an adenovirus seed stock which will require further amplification for downstream in vitro transduction. Large-scale virus production and purification will be necessary for in vivo injections.
No cell biologist wants to hear the words "cell culture contamination". Unfortunately, it is more commonplace in labs than it should be. While some contaminants are visible to the eye, others are often left undetected due to their lack of visible appearance. This can have serious consequences when it comes to integrity of your experimental results. Follow the 5 best practices below, and you can minimize your risk of contamination in your cell cultures.
Lentivirus is one of the most commonly used gene delivery systems, yet there are many things to consider before using it for your experiments. Here are 4 things you should consider when making your lentiviral constructs: (1) Is lentivirus the right gene delivery system for your experiment? (2) Is your sequence within the size limit? (3) Have you optimized your vector backbone design? (4) Are you choosing the right packaging system? Find out the answers to these questions below, plus some additional tips for your next experiment.
Did you know your freezer consumes a large fragment of your energy and resources? Lab freezers are usually the highest energy consumers in most Biological labs. Aging freezers consume as much as 3% more energy every consecutive year which can add up to $1,500 USD annually in energy bills. What can you do to reduce this energy drain? Here are some tips and tricks on how you can keep your energy bills low and your ULT Freezer in good shape. Protect your precious time-sensitive samples before it is too late.
Dr. Robert W. Sobol's illustrious career in biochemistry and cancer research is a testament to his dedication and passion for scientific discovery. abm is honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with such a great scientist. We are excited to have obtained the licensing rights for six stable mouse cell lines from Dr. Sobol, developed while he was a fellow at NIEHS.
Technology for studying the diverse cellular roles of RNA has lagged behind the tools for studying DNA and proteins, but innovative researchers are working to change that! One such researcher is Dr. Peter Unrau of Simon Fraser University. He and his team have created RNA Mango, a novel technology with a number of useful applications.
Educational resources for life scientists and interviews with scientists/science comunicators in the field.
For more in-depth articles, check out our knowledge base, which covers topics such as CRISPR, Next Generation Sequencing, PCR, Cell Culture, and more.
Blog managed by Applied Biological Materials (abm).
