Moody Reagents
ANJANA
Probably all molecular biologists would connect with me in this. You kept a PCR today and want to repeat it for confirmation or other requirements. So, you prepared the PCR mix the next day with the same buffer and sample you used the previous day. You even kept the reaction in the same PCR machine with the same parameters in the same time slot. Alas! There is not even a single band! You are lucky if you saw a band in positive control. Otherwise, scratch your head as to why it has not worked. Everything is the same… Probably it’s not the same day of the week, or the weather is slightly different than yesterday? This can be the only reason you can probably think of :) Yes. PCR also works depending on its mood :) Whatever you try, it doesn’t work on some days. My lab notebooks are the real witnesses of all these moody PCR reactions!
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Moody PCR results from Anjana's lab notebook
Yesterday
Today
I am not in the mood
PCR with the same sample, condition and reagents
Note: Same time slot
Illustrations by Ipshita
One day I was searching for a plasmid sample. I figured out that one of our lab seniors had previously worked on it, and it's in his box. First, I have to figure out that box. I ended up discovering that it’s in our lab’s Antarctica freezer! Yes. We have quite an old freezer which completely fills up with ice in just two days of defrosting. I collected all the equipment to break that ice. It took me no less than twenty minutes just to break the ice from one shelf. Finally, I removed the ice to find out the deeply buried box. I then found the sample I required for my work. This whole action series made me feel no less than an archaeologist!
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Illustration by Ipshita
Reagent and the proteins in my body experiencing the effects of the same freeze-and-thaw cycle
Freezing
Thawing
Thawing
Freezing
I always thought about how reagents might feel when we frequently freeze and thaw. How it may feel from -200C to 40C, -800C to 40C and sometimes liquid nitrogen i.e., -1960C to room temperature. Are they cursing me to experience a similar situation? Several days came when I had to work in the cold room for protein experiments. I would cover myself in warm clothes and two gloves, but still, I had to move in and out of the cold room. My spectacles would turn completely foggy, and my hand would be cold when I come out. Probably now proteins in my body are experiencing the same freeze-and-thaw cycle!
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Temp
Temp
Temp
Temp
Illustrations by Ipshita
About Anjana
Anjana Hegde is a PhD graduate from IISc Bengaluru. She loves exploring nature and painting in her free time.
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