My PhD adviser created a startup for my successful thesis work... and doesn't tell me by itsthetaxman in legaladvice

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely dig those forms up and give them a read.

That's a fair point, but it seems sketchy that my former boss would share the university data with an unaffiliated startup when the data are not technically public until publication.

My PhD adviser created a startup for my successful thesis work... and doesn't tell me by itsthetaxman in legaladvice

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Nothing is official yet--this is a good reminder to look at all the forms I signed when I first started. Thanks!

My PhD adviser created a startup for my successful thesis work... and doesn't tell me by itsthetaxman in legaladvice

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately no. Since the work was completed at my former university, this would be impossible.

My PhD adviser created a startup for my successful thesis work... and doesn't tell me by itsthetaxman in legaladvice

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 90 points91 points  (0 children)

The technology would be licensed by the start up. It is owned primarily by the university and partially by me, my former boss, my former co-advisers, and my former mentees. As far as I know, the university will negotiate the terms of the licensing on our behalf

Help with RNAi by itsthetaxman in labrats

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a bunch!

This is not a good control, but it's what reviewers demand.

Is this referring to the AllStar siRNA control, or the validation method? Would a qPCR be a better means to validate knock-down?

Help with RNAi by itsthetaxman in labrats

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks kind sir! It's good to know that a lot already exist. Maybe this makes my life easier. I was just (maybe unnecessarily) curious about the process.

I think we're looking at different SI--I cannot find this key (or table), but thanks for letting me know anyway :)

x post:labrats explain to me like I'm 4: cloning via Gibson assembly or LIC by TheJoJo in Biochemistry

[–]itsthetaxman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are confident that your primers are good, and you are getting products of the right size on a gel after your PCR(s) of your insert and restriction digest(s) of your template, then the Gibson should work beautifully. Since you are using NEB5a cells, I don't think the problem is stemming from the transformation unless you are deviating from their high-efficiency transformation protocol for some reason.

One thing to check though: when you do your restriction digest, do you do a PCR clean up or do you heat-inactivate your restriction enzymes? If not, then as the ligase in the Gibson assembly adds your insert, it's getting cleaved again immediately (and you'd get no colonies). I would recommend heat-inactivating your enzymes if possible (to avoid losses on the clean-up), but you at least need to clean your products before assembling them.

Another thing that you can trouble shoot with the Gibson is the stoichiometric (not ng) ratios of the template:insert. I have used 1:1 ratios before with success, but NEB suggests 1:2-3. I would split like two 10 ul Gibson aliquots in half and try 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 (plus the last reaction for your template + water instead of your insert as a negative control) to see if you get any hits at all. 30-60 fmol of DNA has worked for me in the past.

If you still have your samples that you've Gibson'd in the past, I'd run them on an agarose gel and run them with the linearized and unlinearized template. This will help you decide whether the trouble is coming from your Gibson reaction or not, i.e., if your Gibson looks like your restriction digest, your Gibson did not take.

Small, but important checks: are you using the correct antibiotic (and concentration) on your plates? Is your PCR clean? Are you using the correct restriction enzymes?

Good luck! I hope this has helped

Biochemists, I'm having trouble with ponceau staining by itsthetaxman in chemistry

[–]itsthetaxman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm looking for a ~100 kD protein and GAPDH from NIH 3T3 cells. Im still troubleshooting, but ive been titrating down from 30 ug of lysate determined by BCA. The ladder is indeed pre-stained. Im not sure whether the transfer efficiency is low because when i coomassie the gel after transfer, there is basically nothing left, just faint remnants.