Student Research at Duke

It looks like I’ve hit my metaphorical stumbling block.

The miscreant samples that I previously mentioned– the ones that didn’t work out perfectly in the first try– have been giving me more headaches than I care to blog about. But here’s a (not so brief) summary; please excuse me if I start ranting…

After the first round of sequences were analyzed, I tried re-PCRing the ones that didn’t amplify correctly. Some worked the second time, but most of the samples still showed nothing. So I took a step back, and I re-extracted those samples and then ran PCR on the new extractions. But nope, no luck there either. So I ran a whole-genome amplification on these samples, hoping to increase my DNA concentration and bypass the issue of bad tissue samples. But STILL no luck; after running PCR on the whole-genome samples, it appears that while I did have success in increasing my DNA concentration, the troublemaking samples still won’t amplify.

I’ve run out of bullet points on my list of things to do if the samples don’t work…so I’m racking my brain to think of what has been going wrong. Right now I’m trying PCR again, but with a lower annealing temperature…or maybe my reagents are weird and I need a new stock. Hopefully I’ll think of something else to test or find out what’s actually going wrong with my rogue samples.

Either way, I’m feeling the pressure of deadlines (abstracts are due next week, and posters next weekend) and the stress of many failed attempts. And now I’m wondering…what happened to my summer vacation?

Hi! My name is Samantha Pearlman, and this is my very first blog post. I’ve written a little about me in my profile, and I may update it from time to time so feel free to check that out. I’m not really too sure how to start writing this (blogging beginner here), but here it goes…

I’m currently participating in the Howard Hughes Research Fellowship, which is a group of about 30 rising sophomores (and Jose, the odd one out…but don’t worry, we still love you Jose) who are interested in biological research. We’ve all been matched up with labs and paired with mentors, with whom we will be working for the next eight weeks. In the lab, we are all doing different things, but out of the lab, we attend biweekly lectures, get together to discuss our research (hows that for academic collaboration?), and try to pass time in hot and humid Durham.

The program has decided that blogging is the new frontier of science research. At first, I was a tad bit incredulous. I’m an avid facebook user (okay, user isn’t the best word. Maybe addict) so I’m no stranger to the post-your-life-story-on-the-internet deal, but I can’t say I’ve ever entertained the idea of writing in a blog for public scrutiny and consumption. I mean, really, we are all science people here…not your stereotypical F.Scott Fitzgerald/write-the-great-American-novel type. But after hearing it explained in full, I started to warm up to the idea. There are a lot of misconceptions about science and about people who devote their lives to science. While I’ve always loved the crazy mad scientist character with the ubiquitous white lab coat, I’m not so sure which stereotypes are actually true and which are fictional (Do researchers have social lives or are they confined to lab-intramural softball leagues? Does anyone actually use that dingy shower in the women’s restroom on the third floor of BioSci?), but I’m planning to find out this summer. And, hopefully, this blog will be a way for the outside world to see what really happens in a lab.

So, stay tuned for riveting updates from the lab. I’ll let you know when I find my first mad scientist.