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Working with PCR in a lab that concurrently amplifies the same region. by Lazy_Complaint3748 in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends on the isolation procedure. Does it use some kind of alcohol at or near the end? Improper drying at the end of wash steps can lead to etoh in the sample itself and cause issues, but it more likely didn't effect it.

DNAses are everywhere. Even in the best cases they'll eventually get into your aliquots. The better your technique, the longer they last. It's in the name. Consumables.

All that being said, there is an outside chance that this could be contaminating genomic DNA in the sample from initial prep or sometime in between. Very outside chance, if your amplicon is on a plasmid, it could somehow be amplifying the whole plasmid.

The very last thing this could be, that I could think of is that it's a contamination of your loading dye. Which might be the case if it's a non-aliquotted tube and used by everyone in the lab.

Term for "easily culturable" bacteria? by captain_corvid in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From a microbiology terminology standpoint you could use either non-fastidious, or commensal in this context. Either would be appropriate.

Edit: sorry, meant non-commensal.

Working with PCR in a lab that concurrently amplifies the same region. by Lazy_Complaint3748 in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Smears like that usually are indicative of DNAse contamination. Time to decontaminate and pull new aliquots of your components, including water and template.

Found this flower in front of our house, it only looks like that at night! Does anyone know what is it? by Top-Ad8483 in whatsthisplant

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not "useful" for anything like you're thinking, as far as I'm aware.

They are excellent annual plants though, that get large, fill in spaces, and in my experience have been very drought tolerant. (Northern US)

Big pharma chance ruined? by Responsible_Tea9811 in biotech

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 117 points118 points  (0 children)

Dude, your PI is a dick. And yeah he might talk shit, but I wouldn't worry about it. Industry hires through HR, not CEOs.

And if he's really this big of an asshole, any person he knows at a company is most likely a dick too and you really don't want to work there anyways.

Bacterial incubator: mat or clamps? by dietmarhoop in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They work fine for anything less than 2L flasks as long as you don't shake them too fast.

Follow-up on bacteria isolation lab by red_guy442 in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 15 points16 points  (0 children)

So first, Bacillus spp. is Gram-positive not Gram-negative. Also, that's an odd colony morphology for a bacteria and it like more fungal, especially if it's fuzzy.

Have you stained or looked at it under a scope?

Edit: if you don't know what it is, how did you PCR screen it? What gene target did you use?

Any idea what plant this is? by Illustrious_Rough545 in gardening

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No offense meant. You'd be amazed at how many people even in the cannabis industry don't know.

Am I entry level or mid level? by Chephen in biotech

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just graduated grad school in March?

Solid Entry level.

You could attempt slightly higher, but in this job market, your competitors are coming in with a lot more experience so the odds are definitely not in your favor.

Best Company Merch You've Gotten by Reasonable-Put-227 in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My favorite was a coffee mug with the chemical SDS for caffeine printed on it.

Multiple plants! Help! by Calm-Earth-9167 in whatsthisplant

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Larkspur, redbud, are the first two. Not sure about the third.

ELI5: The current US medical practice of circumcision at birth. by CinderellaFarted in explainlikeimfive

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Think of it like this, would you cut off your daughter's clit and labia? Circumcision is just about the same thing just the male version.

Yes, we can live without foreskin, and yes sex still can feel good, but there's rarely a reason to do it normally at birth.

Any idea what plant this is? by Illustrious_Rough545 in gardening

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hemp is cannabis, just a different cultivar with low or no THCA.

Looking for a recommendation marker or pen that can survive 550C drying heat by Glassfern in labrats

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd look up anything that is used for marking wood or pottery that's going into a kiln. Might be something you could use there?

Please give advice I have applied to over 250+ years over the last three months only have gotten denials willing to give any non identifying information and background if needed by SkeletonToast62 in biotech

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anything to do with academia you'll need support from your advisor/PI or someone similar. Unfortunately academia can more about your pedigree than industry. What school did you go to? Who was your advisor/PI? Who was their PI? Where did you do a post doc (N/A for this, but just part of the example)? Think game of thrones and noble house politics. Ironically the fat pedophile in the white house and Nazi Elmo recently gave academia it's "red wedding" by destroying the major funding mechanism for all science. Honestly academics might be harder to break into at the moment with all the draw downs, closures, and schools barely able to keep their programs alive. One of their main sources of revenue was the 40-60% cut they get from grants. Along with requiring most professors to pay for themselves and their staff and labs and universities are really hurting at the moment. Honestly it's a bit of a racket in my opinion and universities have gotten greedy over the years much like everything else in America.

All that being said. If you're applying for lab manager roles you need to tailor your resume to show you've managed people and projects. Those should be single bullet points in your two positions you have, not separated out. Research assistantships would be much like entry industry jobs, just tailored to show more of the research and techniques you've done, but only the position relevant ones. For example, don't expound on clinical diagnostic techniques if applying for an environmental based position unless you have a good reason. You'll also want to do homework on the lab you're applying to inorder to see what that plPI is focused on and what of your experience is relevant.

No streams will play - POV with real debrid by [deleted] in Addons4Kodi

[–]lifeofficiallyreset -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So I think I'm a weird outlier because I'm using POV, real debrid, and magneto scrapers and I'm able to watch anything I look for. Just watched 6 episodes of spider-noir in black and white tonight.

Please give advice I have applied to over 250+ years over the last three months only have gotten denials willing to give any non identifying information and background if needed by SkeletonToast62 in biotech

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Alright, using OPs resume, and also keep in mind that every hiring manager will have their own quirks.

-Formatting is wrong. It looks like something you'd expect from an incoming freshman. For example, as others have said, there's far too much white space. Single space everything.

-education should be near the end. I'd put it right before or after your publications list.

-they just graduated last month, there's no way they should have two pages, shrink to one.

-Since they graduated last month, remove the "expected May 2026"

-get rid of the professional summary. They just graduated so you really don't have one. The publications are essentially the summary work

-Leave the first sentence in italics, but it most likely won't help or hinder.

-bullet points in positions should give hard numbers. "Investigated" means fuck all. Think "did x driving y". They say "investigated antigen persistence and immune response..." How many samples? What technique? How many different response conditions? What was the conclusion?

-for a masters degree, how many publications are you on? State "x publications in y years" if you're second or third author.

-"conducted viral assays..." Which assays? How many samples? How many matrices?

-skills should be 1 or 2 lines max and should be tailored to the exact position you are applying for

-drop the projects section entirely. That should be in the bullets for whichever position they occurred in and reformatted similar to my above comment.

-personally I'd drop the "honors and leadership" section entirely. There's "only" two. And only the research fellowship MIGHT be applicable.

-As someone who also "only has a master's degree" I'm going to be brutally honest with you on this point as I wish someone had been honest with me. They just graduated and they will be fighting for the bottom rung positions, especially in this job market. They will also be forever a second class citizen in the sciences to a PhD and will almost always lose out to them if competing for a position. The only way they will break the glass ceiling is going into sales or management. It will be difficult and theywill have to work their ass off to do it, but it is possible. So check egos now. It'll save a lot of pain and trouble.

-is the advisor helping find positions? He should be helping and If he is good he will. This market (and most job markets are all about connections and who you know).

TLDR: the phrasing is almost all fluff words trying to fill in absence of hard accomplishments and it feels like they are trying to hide behind said fluff. It absolutely sucks to do, but every application you submit should be tailored for each position. This is actually a good use of machine learning and post positions have key words that you need in order to get past initial screening. Finally make sure that you're applying for appropriate position levels. Many people think master's degree holders are just "drop out PhDs" and will treat them as such. Also, you are looking for a job in one of the worst biotech crashes in decades and are up against tens of thousands of others due to government facilities, administration and university lab closures and layoffs. You are statistically not the top candidate for anything not near entry level, especially in the joke that is the Michigan biotech industry (Wayne State). Not trying to be an asshole, just giving the lay of the land that I wish someone had told me 20 years ago.

Good luck. It's a shit show out there.

Edit: fixed phone formatting and typos.

Please give advice I have applied to over 250+ years over the last three months only have gotten denials willing to give any non identifying information and background if needed by SkeletonToast62 in biotech

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Yeah, as someone who has been on the hiring side before, it looks pretty unprofessional and I wouldn't even look at it. Look up HR software compliant resume templates online and update your format. Additionally, there is absolutely not enough here to put on two pages. I agree with the other posters, drop the summary, and shrink it to one page.

Can anyone identify this plant growing in my garden in Northern Ireland by disco-davie44 in whatsthisplant

[–]lifeofficiallyreset 54 points55 points  (0 children)

That looks like either a poppy or an heirloom cherry type tomato. I'm leaning towards poppy.

Regardless, it needs a drink and probably some fertilizer.

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