Conversation in the lab
ESC: *making a buffer* It’s always bugged me…why isn’t SDS called SLS?
N: what?
ESC: *points at bucket* “sodium lauryl sulfate” - SLS
N: that’s not SDS. SDS is sodium dodecyl sulfate
ESC: what?
N: we should have some…*looks at chemical shelf*
ESC: but…this is what I’ve been using for SDS! *panic setting in* it’s SOAPY! Just like SDS!!
N: let me see if there’s some in the other lab
I: *piping up from her desk* look in the Maniatis!
ESC: where is the Maniatis??? oh my god, what if I’ve screwed up every experiment…?
N: I can’t find any….I’m SURE it’s called sodium dodecyl sulfate
ESC: oh crap…
I: *triumphantly* it’s BOTH!!!
*we all peer at the Maniatis*
It IS both. THANK YOU GOD! I KNEW I couldn’t have been that stupid.
One of the fun things about bein a biologist is that I’m a terrible chemist. When I make these buffers and things, I have NO IDEA if what I’m using is dangerous, if I should make it in the hood, or if I should wear gloves, hold my breath, etc. I make them all in complete ignorance. Yes, I could check the Maniatis every time. But I’m lazy.
For those not in the sciencey fields, “the maniatis” is kind of like a lab bible. It’s actually a 3 volume set of laboratory manuals called “molecular cloning,” and they contain common techniques, protocols, and recipes. The editors USED to be a guy named Maniatis and two other guys. Now it’s edited by Sambrook (one of the “other guys”) and Russel. But if you told someone to look something up in the “sambrook and russel,” they wouldn’t know what you were talking about. Poor Sanbrook. He will ALWAYS be in the shadow of Maniatis.
Stay tuned later for a wedding dress update!
Uh…
I guess the MSDS is useless when it comes to some of the organic compounds you make…
By the way, why do you use shampoo for your bufers? It’s fascinating, the image in my head, you and the other lab girls in skimpy, form hugging lab coats all moaning over your desks, bottles of “Herbal Essences” lying about every where…
Um… I don’t get out much.
Scoot–don’t forget the Victoria’s Secret undies under those lab coats…nothing else, just the undies…oh, and the pumps, really high-heeled pumps.
Wbhbhahahahah! You are not the only one - or maybe it is that not many people seem to care about the safety part of the buffers, even if they DO know the chemistry. Acid titration? Pshaw… I don’t need goggles and gloves, I do it barehanded baby!