EMSAqueen's recent activity
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Comment on Laziness does not exist in ~humanities
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Comment on Issues with NGS Library Prep in ~science
EMSAqueen Link ParentAre you by any chance using Ampure Beads for the purification? I have some experience with them and the beads are unbelievably finicky and if you have any amount of ethanol left when you resuspend...Are you by any chance using Ampure Beads for the purification? I have some experience with them and the beads are unbelievably finicky and if you have any amount of ethanol left when you resuspend the beads in TE to elute you can end up with a contaminated sample which can then measure as being too low in concentration. I don't have the exact protocol on hand or memorized but there's like a 5-8min drying step we do on the beads after removing the ethanol to allow any remaining ethanol to evaporate prior to resuspending the beads in buffer.
Which form of sequencing are you using do you know? Like is it illumina or nanopore or something else?
Edit: actually one major thing we do differently is that we do the drying step without removing the beads from the magnetic rack and then do the resuspension off the rack. By transferring them you might be bringing along some of the ethanol.
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Comment on Meet Your Tildes Neighbour: August 2023 Edition in ~talk
EMSAqueen Link ParentHello! I'm sorry I never replied to your very kind and encouraging comment sooner. Honestly, at that point in time I read what your said and really appreciated it but I couldn't get myself to...Hello! I'm sorry I never replied to your very kind and encouraging comment sooner. Honestly, at that point in time I read what your said and really appreciated it but I couldn't get myself to reply.
It's been a few months and I'm really happy to say that I've been absolutely loving being a student. Every day I get to learn something new and my program is so broad that everyone in my class has a different background and perspective. Despite how worried I was before it began, it didn't take long to figure out that grad school is a very different thing than undergrad and (so far) all of the differences are for the best.
Of course it's not all sunshine and rainbows but my project is progressing really well and I'm finding a whole new love of science :)
Fun fact: a Zebra fish can regenerate its heart without forming a scar even when up to 20% of its ventricle is amputated
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Comment on The medical reason a doctor might put sugar on your anus in ~health
EMSAqueen Link ParentThe context is anal prolapse. OP just wanted to sweeten the deal of figuring it outThe context is anal prolapse. OP just wanted to sweeten the deal of figuring it out
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Comment on Meet Your Tildes Neighbour: August 2023 Edition in ~talk
EMSAqueen LinkI graduated from college with my bachelor's degree in 2020 and have been working in a lab since then, but on Monday I will be starting my PhD in molecular biology. On some level I'm really excited...I graduated from college with my bachelor's degree in 2020 and have been working in a lab since then, but on Monday I will be starting my PhD in molecular biology. On some level I'm really excited especially because this has been my dream for years but I'm really nervous for it, too. I struggle with ADHD and persistent depression disorder and when I went through my undergrad (without knowing the diagnosis) everything that had worked for me to learn in high school was suddenly useless in giant lecture halls where I just had to sit and listen and not interact. I know that my experience this time around should be different, but I can't help but worry about it.
One of the reasons I originally got into Reddit when I was 13 was because of /r/Askreddit being the first place I ever found where people would give unfiltered explanations of their innermost thoughts. I'm fascinated by understanding how things work and the logic that they follow, including people. Especially as questions were about things you would normally talk about would strangers like weird quirks you have in the bathroom or deep dark secrets from everyone else in your life. Now my favorite thing about Tildes is that the encouragement of good discussions generally doesn't lead to Askreddit style question answering, but the goodwill here lends itself to allowing people to genuinely share their point of view and their perspectives in a way that's hard to find in reality.
I guess what I want to share overall is just that I love science and I have a specific focus on methods development because it forces you to think about how to go about answering a question rather than answering a question. The way things happen or are done and the process by which a goal can be achieved is infinitely more interesting to me than just what happens or how. I hope that I can find other people with interest in different scientific methods on here and I hope that I can do the same when I start my program, which I hope despite my fears will not be as scary as I'm imagining.
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Comment on US conservationists push EPA to add 1,000+ pollutants to 'outdated' list of toxic chemicals in ~enviro
EMSAqueen LinkIt's really frustrating to see articles like this after all of the science denying that has happened over the course of the pandemic. Specifically, it's disheartening that so many people were...It's really frustrating to see articles like this after all of the science denying that has happened over the course of the pandemic. Specifically, it's disheartening that so many people were mobilized against a life saving vaccine because of the fear of "chemicals" and side effects. But here we are in a position that the agency which is meant to be responsible for keeping us safe from environmental chemicals hasn't updated its standards in over 50 years. It's upsetting that there isn't more of an outrage that so many chemicals are literally banned in the EU for being too toxic but apparently Americans must be invincible to toxins (except vaccine related ones of course...)
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Comment on Why did you select your username for Tildes? in ~tildes
EMSAqueen LinkI wanted something that was really obscure to the average person but works as a great calling card to those in the know. I work in the field of molecular biology and in my lab I'm known as the...I wanted something that was really obscure to the average person but works as a great calling card to those in the know. I work in the field of molecular biology and in my lab I'm known as the expert of running EMSA experiments (electrophoretic mobility shift assays). Since it's a less widely used technique now a days I made my username hoping to find other people that relate to it and appreciate seeing the reference the same way I love recognizing odd references in usernames.
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Comment on How do you cope with situations beyond your control? in ~talk
EMSAqueen LinkI'm currently in my mid-20s and in the last year I got diagnosed with dysthymia/persistent depressive disorder despite, in retrospect, literally never remembering a time "before" I was depressed....I'm currently in my mid-20s and in the last year I got diagnosed with dysthymia/persistent depressive disorder despite, in retrospect, literally never remembering a time "before" I was depressed. It really upended my understanding of the world, the assumed experiences of others, and my sense of place in this world. I started getting stuck in thought spirals all the time that were centered around the idea of what I "should" be doing or feeling until I couldn't think about anything else besides the thoughts I was trying to ignore. Naturally, you never spend more time thinking about something than you do trying not to think about it.
I think the biggest thing that helped me is accepting that I don't have to do anything I "should" and as long as I could keep going I was already doing everything I "should" which is getting through it. At the end of the day, the only way forward is through and on my worst days all I can tell myself is at least I got through it. The phrasing of your post suggests that you're explicitly looking to ignore/distract yourself from the issue which I haven't really figured out for myself yet, but I think it's helpful to be reminded that when you can't do anything about the situation the only thing you can do is keep going.
Rather than focusing on how to forget about it, I try to focus on what would make me feel better until I can do something about it. It's like the idea on planes that you need to help yourself before you can help others and in a sense taking care of yourself is the only thing you can do in a bad situation. Especially at my worst, simple tasks like making sure I was eating were outside my capabilities, but it turns out eating pizza 3 times a week is better than starving. Instead of beating myself up for not eating better, I tried focusing on the fact that at least I was eating. Doing good enough is infinitely better than doing nothing and the standard of "good enough" slowly rises as you either acclimate to the situation or you manage to gather yourself enough to raise the standard yourself. Overall, I think giving myself grace to not be okay and focusing on doing the bare minimum makes me feel like I'm doing something even if I can't do anything about the problem itself.
You're pretty actively demonstrating the claims of the article by so easily and immediately assuming the people around you could have jobs and choose not to. How can you expect to know the intricacies of their struggles and their barriers (profoundly personal and private information) keeping them dependent on state assistance if you're clearly so unempathetic to their difficulties and so sure that they're gaming the system? I feel based on your comment any legitimate reason a person might have for struggling would be band waved away as an excuse.
I don't understand why it's still so hard for people to wrap their head around the fact that you cannot understand a person just by looking at them. You can't know identity or disability or trauma or anything else that affects a person day in and day out just by looking at them.