 |
| Me at my bench. |
My objective for the
first week was to isolate the plasmid carrying the inhA wild type gene and construct two mutants with a site directed
mutagenesis of one amino acid.
 |
| 1.5% Agarose Gel with plasmid bands |
On Tuesday I received my access card! No more "smiling and
waving" to get into the research areas every morning and borrowing to get down to autoclave.
Right on my second day, I had to learn that most of the time
experiments and procedures don’t work out perfectly. Even though, I worked
thoroughly and sticking to protocol my first two plasmid isolations didn’t have
a desired yield….well, so I did again with a slight change of protocol and e voilÃ
it worked!
However, my luck didn’t continue as my SDM (site directed
mutagenesis) didn’t work for first time with the competent cells provided by
the kit, nor the second time with self-made competent E.coli DH5α….
Unfortunately, the reagents of the kit wouldn’t be enough
for another reaction, so I have to wait for the new one to arrive...time to read more papers!
All in all, a pleasant first week. I learnt a lot already, especially to be calmer and less paranoid about my skills!
I am also very grateful for
all the support I received from the PhDs and Post-docs in the lab.
