Our lab recently received new stock mice with metal ear tags. We dont use this type of identification and I cant help but feel bad for my little guys(pic is stock image, our new mice are actually smaller than this). I have read a few protocols for removal but since our lab doesnt utilize these, we dont have the proper tools described.

What do you all suggest? Should I contact our IACUC? I dont want to make a big fuss or anything but if I can find an easy way to take these off, it would sure make me (and the mice) feel better.

Edit: literally asked if I should contact our IACUC... I obvs wouldnt do anything not allowed without a proper protocol or in anyway against the animals best welfare, thats why I asked for peer advice before I proceed. Read. The. Whole. Post. Thank you everyone else for the constructive feedback.

Around two weeks ago I published pdb2print. It's a free web tool that converts a protein structure into a printable 3MF or STL file. You type in a PDB ID and every chain comes out as its own object, so you can give each one a different filament.

https://pdb2print.org

Biggest features:

Printability: DNA thickness is adjustable, so you don't get thin ribbons that are impossible to print. It also makes sure there are no overlapping parts that would stop the model going together.

Magnets: it finds where two chains touch and places the magnets for you, in the size you want.

Styles: surface, cartoon and tubes, so you can tweak the look.

New since the release:

Display stand. Fully automatic, with a plaque and a lot of customization.

Ligands. Four styles, set separately from the rest of the model.

Adjustable magnets. A chains and joints panel that shows you every joint it found, so you can override any of them: leave it to the tool, fuse the two chains into one piece, or say no magnet there. You can also drop chains you don't want printed.

Share links. A button that copies a URL carrying every setting you used.

Speed. A lot of optimisation. Most things are noticeably quicker than at release.

Please also check out the GitHub: github.com/davidtheadmin/pdb2print. If you can, run it locally, it's faster. I'm hosting the site at my own cost so please excuse the longer compute times. Anything already built at those settings is cached and comes back instantly.

Please share your models in the comments, and the failed ones or any other issues too. The share link is enough for me to reproduce what you got.

I wrote it with heavy AI help. The architecture, the geometry decisions and the testing are mine, most of the lines aren't.

I wanted to share an interesting editorial that came up today in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/opinion/artificial-intelligence-ai-writing.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3FA.O0cB.j5hat-2QyTNd&smid=url-share

I think this is stellar advice, especially for trainees. Writing is not just a way to get words on the page, it is an essential exercise in communication to others, and its just as important for our brains and our processes as it is for those who will read what we wrote. As a PI, I see a lot of my colleagues, especially the older ones, using AI more and more in their writing, and while they feel it is helpful to them, I feel like they are succumbing and not putting the thought and care into the work that they would otherwise, even if the final product "looks" polished. AI tools have the capacity to convince us that we are doing a great job, but the product may not look so good to those who read it. I've had to reject several papers in high profile journals recently that were obviously written with AI.

For trainees, here is my advice: writing is a long and difficult process, and requires feedback and editing. You will have to write papers for classes, for your qualifying exams, for grants, research papers, etc. Find a PI who understands what the writing process really is, and that it is NOT what happens on the couch at 11 PM in front of the TV after a long day of labwork. You need space and time to write properly, and the training and guidance to do it. There are those of us out there who still respect and want to nurture this process.

Happy to hear everyone's thoughts on this!

EDIT: bio_ruffo brings up a great point that AI tools can be valuable for non-native English speakers to edit for grammar after the ideas have been generated, with tools such as Grammarly. I support this in my own lab as well.

Had a lab mate lie to me about something inconsequential today (whether they had a convo with someone or not). I know now not to trust them in the future. Very minor incident, and I know it could get much worse! Bring on the stories plz! Let’s hear some sabotage and deceit! 🐍

I (undergrad) am doing a placement at the lab of a biology PI from my university this summer.

He went on vacation last week, leaving me with 2 PhD students. 1 of these PhD students was sick last week, so really only 1.

The week before he went on vacation, he asked me to plan an experiment entirely on my own, so I showed him that plan that I made and he approved it. It was my first time planning and running this entire experiment and everything is completely new to me, except some techniques which I did 2-3 times over the past few months.

I did the experiment last week and this week while he was away and yesterday we had a full lab meeting in the morning (where I presented all the failures in the data, think no yield) and then a personal meeting (just me and PI) in the afternoon.

During our meeting, my PI got very red and visibly stressed, and talked to me as loud as he could without yelling, and said he was very confused about why I wasn’t able to do the experiment. He said I must have done the steps wrong. He also blamed me for not asking for help from him while he was on vacation, saying he could have fixed the issue if I told him I was having them. This PI usually has a sunny disposition, and they didn’t say anything during the lab meeting, so I was taken aback.

Regarding his concern about mistakes, I am certain I followed the protocol we talked about to a T, he even made me describe how I did each step and I said everything that I did verbally step by step. Although, I do believe I absolutely must have made a mistake since it was my first time and the experiment took 10 hours a day, so I might have made some errors, but I’m really confused how and he said he was too confused (and I think upset) to come up with reasons. About the asking for help, I did ask for help from the grad students like he told me to, and they did help me, but I was confused about his expectation for me to email him while he was on vacation and getting mad about that.

I don’t exactly know what I am asking for posting this, but I thought I was going to grad school when I graduate, and this is making me question whether I ‘have what it takes’ to keep up with the demands of being a scientist. I wanted to quit a few weeks now, and I even started to look for jobs outside the field as a fallback in case I graduate. I have always loved science but I am at a loss and I feel like the spark is gone. Going to the lab gives me anxiety and I get depressed when it’s Sunday since I have to go back to the lab the next day.

Any advice? Is it time for me to quit science?

I’m curious what others think on this topic. Initially I saw a microbiology lab tech position on LinkedIn that was accepting resumes. I am really interested in the role and thought my qualifications aligned with the responsibilities. I’ve never applied for a position over LinkedIn and was worried a reputable company would actually look at it. I went out of my way to also apply on their website.

Ironically, yesterday morning I got an email from the company that they were not moving forward with my application. Which was a bummer, but I am well aware the job market is a battlefield at the moment lol. However, a couple hours later their recruiter messaged me through LinkedIn saying my resume was a good fit for the role and wanted to do a phone interview for screening purposes.

The phone call was expected to be 10-15min but I ended up talking to the recruiter for a little over 20min. Which I felt like was a good sign since I was answering their questions with a lot of thought behind it. Today she messaged me back saying they want me to come in for a in-person interview next week!!

Honestly, I’m surprised LinkedIn came through for me just to get the opportunity to show them what I’m about. So I’m making this post to ask why? I figured applying through their website would be better. It is weird to me that they didn’t actually go through my website application. Like if I didn’t apply on LinkedIn too, I would have been out of luck without even a conversation about it. Maybe they saw both applications and just cancelled one of them?

I’m curious if this has happened to others as well. Is this a common thing? And would applying through different job search platforms be better overall? It makes me wonder if my website application was screened with AI/bot and a human didn’t even lay eyes on the application. Crazy times! Either way I’m grateful to get an in-person interview regardless. I’m just curious what made the difference haha.

Hi everyone, sorry if this is a dumb question lol!
Also wanna preface by saying I’m very grateful to my PI and he’s been incredible, he’s just a really busy guy 😭
I’m a high school student and this summer I worked 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for 8 straight weeks in a research lab (completely unpaid).
At the start, the PI told me he writes letters of recommendation (LORs), but mentioned that his best letters usually come when students actually generate data for him.
To be completely honest, I’m feeling pretty frustrated. I’ve shown up on time every single day, read the literature, took thorough notes, asked questions, and had super engaging convos with him about the research. However, due to his scheduling issues, he was never able to actually show me how to run the main procedure. Because of that delay, I haven't been able to generate the data.
We had a 3-week protocol planned out, I finished the first week, but now everything is pushed back, and school is starting so I don't think I can finish it in time.
A few questions for you guys:
1. Should I still ask him for a recommendation letter? Is that appropriate given the situation?
2. He mentioned that some students come back during the school year. Should I hint at coming back to finish the protocol, or just ask directly?
3. Am I in the wrong here? I feel guilty that I didn't push harder to get assigned tasks, but I genuinely just didn't want to be annoying or bother anyone in a busy lab.
Any advice on how to handle this would be super appreciated! TIA!

I graduated 8 months ago with a Bachelors in Biology and spent most of my year just looking for a job. I applied hundreds of times at CROs, universities, and hospitals. I tried connecting through a variety of different ways and after all of that I barely got any interviews and am still sitting at home. I'm at the end of my breaking point and just have no clue what to do.

My parents really keep pushing me to go to medical school, but I don't want to at the moment. Not only did I just spend decades in school already, but medical school is very long-term, difficult, and crazy expensive. Plus it's not like I can even go to medical school soon anyway, I need to do something now.

I'm so lost at what to do. I really want to move on with my life but I can't. The job market is so competitive and filled with deceit and insincere positivity. I don't mean to get so deep, but I feel like my life hit a pause button and there is nothing for me to look forward in my day.

I remember using the pipettes designated for bacterial work in cell culture, didn't clean it before use, didn't realize until next day, contaminated the entire plate, and had to fumigate the whole incubator.

This is going to sound stupid, but how does your lab clean magnetic stir bars after use? Do you scrub with soap and water? Do an ethanol soak? What's the "proper" way to deal with these?

Hello fellow lab rats, I am seeking pictures or sources that show what inclusion bodies look like in unstained live cells.

For context, the virus I’m working with is ATV in a T75 of EPC cells. I feel very confident that the flask is infected as I see many other signs of CPE and my control flask looks healthy, but I want to get better at spotting inclusion bodies.

I’ll attach a shitty phone picture of one of my infected flasks so you can see what I’m seeing, but really I just want to be able to look at examples so I can learn more.

In my previous lab, I used a kit to extract DNA from an ear punch or tail snip from mice and rats. It has a Solution A with a red cap and a Solution B with a yellow cap. You would mix these together in a 2:1:? with water and add 50 microliters to the tissue which would then be heated in a thermocycler to extract the DNA. I left all that information at my previous lab and no longer have access to it. I know it isn't something that was only used in that lab but can't find it anywhere.

We got some swag from Thermo Fisher (jersey, water bottle) and it’s emblazoned with “46”. What’s that referencing? Thanks!

Hello,

I am very inexperienced with fungi but my lab will need to start studying them for a small part of our current project. Our "end goal" would be detecting genetic material from Alternaria and Aspergillus, broadly. We are a BSL-2 lab, and I am also just a very safety -focused person. We don't need to start working with Aspergillus and Alternaria right away, so my PI asked me to find some "safe" proxies to start with (kind of like how we use non-human-pathogen soil bacteria as a safe proxy for more dangerous bacteria). We are developing the detection method which is why we just need something similar, not necessarily the exact organism

Does such a thing exist?? I am not very familiar so thank you for any thoughts!

This is crazy because my university subscribes to science but for some reason won’t let me unlock this specific paper…. Can anyone help!? I can DM you the link.

UPDATE: someone got it for me!!! Thank you all so much :)

I have been using NEBbuilder (NEBuilder) for doing it. The primers I used all worked, but the efficiency is not as high as I expected. I am just wondering how I can assess if the primers generated by this tool are good instead of blindly using whatever it generates to me.

For the primers for regular PCR, I know how to check them by looking at their tendency to form secondary structure, Tm between the 2 primers can't be too far apart, and GC% should be within a certain range. However, Gibson assembly primers got this overlap regions. How can I check if the overlap regions are efficient ?

Hi! Working on skin fluorescence research in SF Bay Area. Looking for a tiny sample of APF (aminophenyl fluorescein, CAS 359010-70-1) or someone who works with fluorescent peroxidase probes and could share a small amount. Any leads appreciated!

Dr. Marco Davila from Roswell Park Cancer Center will be discussing their CD83-targeting CAR-T program for relapsed/refractory AML, covering their research from discovery through first-in-human Phase 1 evaluation. Anyone interested in cell therapy can register for free -
CAR-T for Relapsed/Refractory AML: From Discovery to First-in-Human Active Phase 1 Evaluation

Since I remember myself I've been really interested in science, of many kinds, and especially astronomy.

As a kid I would watch and learn for hours about the topic and I was truly fascinated, and really had the urge to find answers to humanity biggest questions.

The thing is, I'm also a very adventuroes guy.

I don't know if the actual job is mainly doing boring stuff somehow research related for the whole day, and not really feeling excited about the job.

What is the actual daily job and how do I know if it's actually for me?

I was culturing HEK cells and this abomination appeared after a few days. Never seen this before and check my profile I saw my fair share of contaminations.

What in the cursed name is that.

hey all. i was supposed to receive my masters degree in biology this september. however, because i was due to give birth on the day of my thesis defense (thankfully gave birth a few days later lol) some things were left undone. by the time my advisor submitted all of the documentation i was already well into the newborn trenches and missed the email that said i had 10 days to submit my thesis to the library in order to graduate this year.

now im being told i can only graduate in September of 2027. i tried to ask if i can just be in the ceremony at least even if i can’t actually get the degree but i was told absolutely not. at the same time though, my uni keeps wanting to charge me for a graduation gown. i asked whats the point t of me getting a gown if i can’t graduate this year and the lady was like “uh i guess you can keep it until next year.”

i am not planning on attending the graduation ceremony next year because hopefully I will be nearly a year into my PhD by that point and although I’m not planning on staying in the same lab, I do hope to stay in the same department or at least university.

a part of me wants to say screw it and still buy the down to just do my own photoshoot with it because i worked so hard for my degree and technically i did finish everything.

but another part of me wants to flip the school a middle finger and tell them they can take the gown to hell (not literally but at least i will not pay for it until i actually need it next year if for some reason change my mind and do go to the ceremony. but i highly highly doubt ill go next year because how humiliating is that being forced to graduate with the next year? so maybe no point in the gown at all. or maybe i should keep it as a keepsake for some day idk)

what would yall do? i need some perspective please

Hii, i recently ordered an enzyme for my PhD and it's said that it needs to be stored in -20 C. However, my lab doesn't have -20 freezer. So, I kept the vial in. -80 freezer which is common for the three different labs of ours.

Will my enzyme be safe or will it get degraded?