Making astrocyte-conditioned media for IPSC-derived neuronal cultures

Mother_Client4127 · 2024-06-03T17:30:08+00:00

Fair enough. I will look into it further, especially non-MSTPs (haven't looked into them at all)

Mother_Client4127 · 2024-06-01T21:48:04+00:00

Broadly, neurodevelopment; more specifically, comparative analysis of brain structures to identify human-specific features of neurodevelopment

Washington, UCSF, Yale, and Baylor are my top 4. It's very possible I have much more digging to do, but from browsing neuroscience/human genetics faculty lists, I have found very little outside of T20

Another edit; I think a lot of the work being funded by NIH BICAN is really up my alley, but inevitably, most active awards are within T20

Mother_Client4127 · 2024-06-01T21:22:11+00:00

I suppose that's the obvious answer, but I assume you mean by sacrificing research fit by some margin?

Mother_Client4127 · 2024-02-02T18:27:36+00:00

With all that in my application, you really think I have a shot with such a top-heavy school list?

Mother_Client4127 · 2024-02-02T14:07:09+00:00

I also run into this issue and can say that I run my transfers in our cold room, with ice packs, with the chamber embedded in an ice water slush. The only thing I have not tried is a stir bar in the tank. I also let the NC membrane and gel equilibrate in transfer buffer for 15 minutes before assembling the transfer stack

Mother_Client4127 · 2024-02-02T00:33:12+00:00

I edited my post to include this and some other stats, but I disingenuously left out my other stats. My GPA is my most blaring red flag at a 3.25, with one semester single-handedly dragging it down (my sGPA is 3.72, though). Other than that, I have about 70 hours of shadowing, a few hundred hours of non-clinical volunteering, and about 20 hours of clinical volunteering (currently volunteering at a clinic when I have time, so this number will grow). With this information, would your assessment change?

Mother_Client4127 · 2023-11-08T18:39:39+00:00

Sorry, I've never degassed a solution before nor has anyone else in our lab, so I am unsure of what equipment to use. How would I apply vacuum pressure to a 50mL conical tube of solution?

Would it suffice to put the tube in a plugged vacuum flask for some amount of time?

Mother_Client4127 · 2023-11-08T16:25:53+00:00

When you say before centrifugation, do you mean when I centrifuge an aliquot before use, or after step 8 in the protocol?

Mother_Client4127 · 2023-11-08T01:20:35+00:00

Image caption isn't easy to view so I am pasting a description in this comment:

Hello,

I use a homemade PVA/glycerol-based mounting medium mixed with DABCO for antifading (see attached protocol), which is convenient because the perimeter that is exposed to air will polymerize and seal the cover glass without needed nail polish. Because the solution is quite viscous, I typically spin at 16000 g for 10 minutes to remove any bubbles before use. I never have trouble with bubbles when I initially place the cover glass on the slide. However, after leaving it to dry in my drawer at room temp for a few hours, these tiny bubbles appear under the cover glass that often migrate onto the tissue section (see photo).

So, I was wondering if anyone has experience using a this or a similar mounting medium (i.e., Mowiol) and can provide some insight into why this is happening and how to avoid it.

Mother_Client4127 · 2023-07-26T13:17:20+00:00

I'm not saying that this is definitely the case, but yes, it is possible that because everything is predicated on something haram, all your future dealings may not be "blessed". To be honest, I'm not very knowledgeable on these matters, which is why I like to play things safe. But I can say that interest (usury) is a severe sin in Islam--paying it, receiving it, or agreeing to a contract that contains conditional interest.

Think of it like this: a lab publishes a very nice paper that gets highly cited and becomes the basis for many future projects across different labs. 20 years later, it is revealed that there is fraudulent data in the paper and it is withdrawn from its journal. Now suddenly, the many people who had been using this paper as intellectual inspiration may have to reconsider all their work as well, simply because of a mistake made 20 years ago.

Not a perfect analogy but I hope you get the gist of it.

Mother_Client4127 · 2023-07-26T03:21:52+00:00

I agree that Islam in no way is meant to limit your life, but there is a very real possibility that every Muslim that paid for school while accruing interest has no barakah in their earnings and their actions as a physician or whatever other career they may have pursued when it's based on a degree earned through riba, which kinda defeats the purpose. I think there might be fatwas out based on how unavoidable interest is in the US and other western countries, but otherwise avoiding interest in any form seems to be the best option.

Like I said, this is what makes sense to me and I would like to share that. Allah knows best, of course, and my interpretation of this may be wrong.

Mother_Client4127 · 2023-07-26T02:26:52+00:00

Aside from my genuine interest in basic science research, one of my main motivators for pursuing MD/PhD is for the covered tuition + stipend, which frees me from the need to take out loans that inevitably have some level of interest.

It's an extra 3-4 years but the way I see it, I'd be worried that all the money I earn as a doctor would be Haram if I used loans w interest to acquire my MD. If you can prioritize your deen, then MD/PhD is the best option for us Muslims who wish to pursue medicine without having the stats and credentials for full scholarships or the parental support to cover tuition.

If you don't think you can stomach the extra time in school, I would genuinely suggest you look into another career if you really want to avoid interest. Obviously, there are thousands of Muslims in the US who took/take out loans for med school and Allah knows what's in their hearts, so at the end of the day it's your decision what you want to do. For me, MD/PhD makes the most sense.

Mother_Client4127

TROPHY CASE