All Episodes
Displaying episodes 1 - 30 of 103 in total
Maxam–Gilbert Sequencing: What It Is and 3 Modern Applications
#103 — DNA sequencing is a fundamental technique in modern molecular biology that has revolutionized the study of genes.In the old days, Maxam–Gilbert sequencing was t...
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy Explained In 3 Easy Steps
#102 — Fluorescence microscopy images not only look great but also allow us to get a better understanding of cells, structures, and tissues. And confocal laser scannin...
How to Become an Expert at Getting Funded
#101 — Discover what it takes to become an expert at getting funded, from simple habits such as summarizing what you read in the literature, to big steps such as orga...
5 Types of Difficult Lab Supervisor and How to Handle Them
#100 — Science attracts so many different and quirky personalities that you are bound to have some people you just don’t get along with. Conflicts happen, and there ar...
7 Top Tips to Make the Most of Your Flow Cytometry Training
#99 — So you’ve got your flow cytometry training booked and are one step closer to that precious data.But if you want to hit the ground running and get some useful dat...
What Reagents Can You Use Past Their Chemical Expiry Date?
#98 — Our labs can contain thousands of chemicals, many of which will be past their given expiry date and many of which are expensive to buy and replace. Replacing the...
How to Write an Effective Research Interest Statement
#97 — A research interest statement is essential to successfully apply for an academic job. In this episode, we delve into how to craft an outstanding one. [1]We cover...
How to Preserve Microorganisms: Store Your Cells Better
#96 — An appropriate microorganism preservation method can make all the difference in maintaining the viability of your microbial strains because it plays a crucial ro...
Overhang PCR: Add Missing DNA Sequences Using Primers
#95 — Have you ever accidentally forgotten to add the Kozak consensus sequence to the start of a coding gene? Or forgotten to include the stop codon? Did you clone som...
Practical Applications and Considerations of Phenol-Chloroform Extraction
#94 — While there are lots of methods to choose from for cleaning up your RNA or DNA samples, for many researchers, phenol-chloroform is the go-to technique. In this e...
How to Become a Bioinformatician
#93 — Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that combines mathematics, computer science, physics, and biology to help answer key questions in modern biological ...
8 Cell Lysis Methods to Break Cell Walls
#92 — We all need to lyse cells to extract the goodness—our samples—from them.However, there are many cell lysis methods. Some are harsh, while some are gentle. Some a...
Genetic Variants Explained
#91 — Genomes are complex and encode a vast quantity of information. One of their key features is genetic variants—aberrations in the genetic sequence, usually in the ...
How to Identify Supercoils, Nicks and Circles in DNA Plasmid Preps
#90 — Are you confused about the banding pattern of DNA on agarose gels? DNA can take many structural forms depending on its source and how you have isolated and purif...
Simplicity in Science: How to Increase your Research Effectiveness by Doing Less
#89 — "Achieve more by doing less" sounds like a piece of cheap advice, but there is a lot of wisdom in it. Research is complicated. You must choose the best questions...
How to Totally Nail Your First in situ Hybridization
#88 — Getting the best out of your in situ hybridizations requires choosing the correct protocol, deciding if sections or whole mount is better, using the right equipm...
Choosing The Right Blood Collection Tubes
#87 — Selecting the right blood collection tubes for your experiment is crucial. But do you know what tubes to use for which type of blood sample?In this episode, we c...
A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing qPCR Primers
#86 — qPCR primer design is a bit of science, a bit of magic, and a little bit of luck. In this episode, we cover the science of qPCR primer design, a cornerstone in c...
How to Passage Cells in Culture
#85 — Working with living cells is a tricky business, and tiny fluctuations in environmental conditions can affect their physiology and impact your experiments. Or wor...
3 Easy Tips for Avoiding Measurement Drift in Analytical Balances
#84 — Every experiment starts by preparing some buffer solutions. And every buffer solution starts with weighing out some compounds on an analytical balance. But these...
How to Make Your Own Chemically Competent Cells
#83 — Chemically competent cells are a key resource in molecular biology labs. But do you really understand what is meant by chemically competent?In this episode of Me...
5 Easy Tips for Keeping Your Centrifuge Alive
#82 — Did you know that most centrifuge accidents result from user error and improper centrifuge care? While proper balancing of samples is important, it is not the on...
How Blunt-End Cloning Works
#81 — You’re probably aware of the two main types of restriction cloning (sticky-end and blunt-end cloning), but do you know the difference? And do you know how to do ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Hematoxylin and Eosin Staining
#80 — Dive into the fascinating world of histology as we explore the basics of Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining, a cornerstone technique in tissue study. [1]Whethe...
5 Ingredients for the Perfect Protein Purification Buffer
#79 — Are you struggling to keep your proteins "happy" and active for your experiments? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside, we dive into the five critical el...
How FRET Works: A Guide to Visualizing Protein Interactions
#78 — Want to visualize if your proteins interact in live cells? FRET is the answer. In this Mentors at Your Benchside episode, we explain how FRET works, why it's gre...
How Can We Make Science More Accessible?
#77 — Have you ever thought about accessibility in science? We don’t always present our science in ways that are accessible to everyone. Nor is lab-based science alwa...
A Short History of Cell Biology
#76 — Do you know how the first cells were identified? Or who discovered them? What about why they are called cells? Discover the fascinating history in this enlighten...
How to use a Hemocytometer
#75 — Counting your cultured cells is vital to seeding the right density for your experiments, harvesting an appropriate amount of downstream experiments, preparing ce...
Understand How Alkaline Lysis Works
#74 — Understanding how a technique works make it simpler to troubleshoot when things go wrong in your experiments. Learn how alkaline lysis works in this short and si...
