All Episodes
Displaying episodes 61 - 90 of 104 in total
10 Good and Evil Ways to Use Your Dr Title
#44 — So you might be wondering why you bothered with all those years of failed experiments, committees, overbearing supervisors, thesis writing, and thesis defending....
How DNA Extraction Kits Work in the Lab
#43 — DNA extraction kits. A magic black (or red or blue) box that helps you isolate DNA without you even thinking. That's great—until things go wrong. Then you have t...
Funny Fruit Fly Gene Names
#42 — There are a lot of humorless scientists out there. But thankfully, some do their bit to make science a bit more fun by adding a splash of imagination to the name...
How to clean and calibrate your lab balance
#41 — Keeping your lab balance clean and calibrated will make your bench work a lot easier. In this episode we give you useful tips to maintain your balance, literally...
How to Write a Thoughtful Discussion for Your Scientific Paper
#40 — Are you struggling to write the discussion section of your paper? It can be daunting to put your results in context and to thoughtfully consider limitations and ...
How Using Oil Immersion Microscopy Can Increase Your Resolution
#39 — Oil immersion microscopy can help increase your resolution in light microscopy. Which, in turn, can lead to better images; and who doesn’t want nicer microscopy ...
Artificial Intelligence in Biology
#38 — Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is changing the way we analyze images and data in biology. But what exactly is AI?Listen to this episode for a brief pr...
Does Your h-index Measure Up?
#37 — How do you measure how good you are as a scientist? How would you compare the impact of two scientists in a field? What if you had to decide which one would get ...
How to Check the Accuracy of Your Pipette in 7 Easy Steps
#36 — Don't let an inaccurate pipette ruin your experiments. In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside we’re talking about how to check the accuracy of your pipette...
How to Make the Perfect Agar Plate Every Time
#35 — A smooth, perfect agar plate will make your microbial experiments a lot easier. Whether you're using LB, M9 or blood agar, tune in to this episode to learn how t...
Top 5 Protein Quantification Assays
#34 — Whether you like it or not, you need to know the concentration of your protein samples accurately. Binding constants, enzyme kinetics, and activity assays all ne...
Top 10 Worst Lab Smells
#33 — Your lab. It probably doesn't look very nice, and often enough, it probably doesn't smell very nice either. Lumps of E. coli, fishy amines, eggy reducing agents....
Is Your Bacterial Culture Still Growing? A Primer on OD600 Measurements
#32 — How do you know if your bacteria culture is ready for your experiment? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside we take a close look at the popular method of...
How CRISPR-Cas13 Can Revolutionize Your RNA Research
#31 — CRISPR can do more than edit DNA. Cas13, a CRISPR-associated protein that can bind and cut RNA, provides the power of CRISPR for studying RNA. Listen to the epis...
Keep Calm and Spin On: The Whats and Whys of Centrifugation
#30 — We have all heard about centrifugation, or more specifically, the horror stories associated with centrifugation going wrong.But don't let centrifugation scare yo...
Protease Inhibitors 101: How They Work and How to Use Them
#29 — Ever wondered why you have to add protease inhibitors to your lysis buffer? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside we’ll tell you all about protease inhibi...
Constant Current or Voltage in SDS-PAGE: The Great Debate
#28 — SDS-PAGE gels can be run at constant current, constant voltage or constant power. But which is best? Listen to this episode of Mentors at Your Benchside to disco...
DNA Ligation: How it Works & 6 Top Tips
#27 — Optimal conditions for DNA ligation reactions are a delicate balance between DNA molecules interacting and the enzymatic ligation reaction.In this episode, you'l...
What Is Cryo-Electron Microscopy? A Brief Introduction
#26 — Cryo-EM is a revolutionary imaging method that lets us see complex biostructures at higher and higher resolutions. But do you understand the mind-blowing science...
The Basics: How Phenol Extraction of DNA Works
#25 — Phenol extraction of DNA is a commonly used method for removing proteins from nucleic acids, for example, to remove proteins from cell lysate during genomic DNA ...
Postdoc Interview Preparation: Sample Questions and Answers
#24 — How can you best prepare for a postdoc interview? Here we cover 10 questions that are often encountered during the job-hunting process. Preparing answers to the...
Creativity in Science: How a Good Imagination Can Help Your Research
#23 — Creativity in Science: How a Good Imagination Can Help Your ResearchIf you're stuck in a research rut in the lab, developing your creativity can help you find n...
Ten Bad Chemicals in the Lab and What They do to You!
#22 — Research often requires you to use dangerous chemicals. From caustic acids and bases to pH solutions and toxic reducing agents, chemical hazards abound in the la...
How Confluent Are Your Cells? A Beginner’s Guide to Measuring Cell Culture Confluency
#21 — Do you know the difference between cell confluency and cell number? Can you measure cell confluency accurately? Cell confluency measurements are essential in cel...
Laemmli Buffer: What Is It for Anyway?
#20— Have you ever wondered how Laemmli buffer actually works? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside, we talk through the different components of Laemmli buffer...
What is Alternative Splicing, and Why Is It Important?
#19 — Listen to this episode to discover what alternative splicing is, the history of how it was discovered, and get key examples of splicing in action.Read the full a...
Why Is SDS-PAGE Run Vertically? Here are 3 Great Answers
#18 — Why are SDS-PAGE gels run vertically? What would happen if we ran them horizontally? Has anyone ever tried? Discover the answers to these questions and more in t...
How (and Why) To Manipulate Plasmid Copy Number
#17 — Why do some plasmids give a better protein yield than others? It may have a lot to do with the plasmid copy number. In this episode we talk about what plasmid co...
Top 10 Tips for Viva Success
#16 — Is your viva on the horizon? Many people think viva exams are going to be painful. But what if you could make your viva go smoothly and maybe even enjoy it? List...
A Brief History of CRISPR-Cas9 Genome-Editing Tools
#15 — In the last few years, CRISPR-Cas9 has become a popular genome editing tool, but have you ever wondered where it came from? In this episode we explore the histor...
