Applied Biological Materials
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Should journals pay peer reviewers? Peer reviewers have become harder to recruit - in 2013 journal editors had to invite an average of 1.9 reviewers to get one completed review; by 2017, the number had risen to 2.4. During the virtual Researcher to Reader conference, researchers debated whether peer reviewers should be paid (arguing a reasonable fee might be $450) or whether such a payment structure would result in soaring subscription costs and risks of unethical review...s. What do you think? Full article from Science here: https://www.sciencemag.org//450-question-should-journals-p #LifeSciences

Have you heard about our new abmVacations+ Program? If you have an abm account, you can earn points with your purchase and exchange them for rewards such as: Trip for 2 to Cancun... Trip for 2 to Las Vegas Trip for 2 to Osoyoos, BC $100 VISA Gift Cards Movie Passes Coffee Gift Cards Log-in to your abm account to check if your points total - you may be able to redeem something already Details about our abmVacations+ rewards program here: https://www.abmgood.com/rewards-program.html #lifesciences

Happy Friday! Darrion from @lab_shenanigans does it again with his timeless tips for scientists. Laugh and learn, folks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4VW2PxXIU&feature=youtu.be

100+ immunologists, infectious-disease researchers and virologists were surveyed: 90% think the coronavirus will continue circulating in pockets of the global population, long into the future (becoming endemic). Even if people develop immunity to the virus, this immunity might wane after a period of time, as the virus evolves. Article & Survey by Nature :... https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00396-2 See more

Happy Holidays, everyone! It has been a challenging year but your support has ensured we are able to continue providing affordable reagents and services to scientists like you! Please note that we are open throughout most of the holidays, but will be closed on the following days:... Thursday, December 24, 2020 Friday, December 25, 2020 Friday, January 1, 2021 From the entire abm Team - we wish you a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to working with you again in 2021! Sincerely, The abm Team

This week, we welcome Tom from @iamphaged to the #SciComm Feature Spotlight! Tom is a PhD student researching microbiology/phage-host interactions. His instagram blog is full of tidbits about what it's like to work with bacteriophages and his experiences as a graduate student. For him, science communication is about sparking scientific interest and communicating how science is done, especially to non-scientists. In his own words, "in the light of the current situations w...ith the SARS-CoV2 pandemic and racism as well, communicating not only the results but also how scientific work is done and influenced or even biased is more important than ever." We interviewed Tom earlier this year and he shares how he ended up being a bacteriophage researcher as well as how he deals with challenges such as failed experiments, learning how to share science in english, learning new techniques, and getting used to new lab environments. Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice, Tom! You can read the full interview on our blog: https://info.abmgood.com/iamphaged

What’s the difference between a gene knockout and a gene knockdown? A gene knockout is when a gene has acquired a frameshift mutation such that the cell no longer expresses any functional protein. When a double stranded break in the DNA is created, the cell can repair it via the Non-Homologous End Joining or NHEJ repair pathway. This process creates insertions or deletions that can cause a frameshift mutation that eliminates gene expression. CRISPR and TALENs can be used fo...r gene knockouts. A gene knockdown is when gene expression is reduced but not completely eliminated. This is typically done by degrading or blocking translation of the gene’s mRNA transcript. Some mRNA may still escape regulation so there is still low level gene expression. RNAi can be used for gene knockdowns. This is a clip from our youtube video on Gene Silencing methods that covers how the CRISPR, TALENs, and RNAi gene silencing systems work! If you want to watch it to learn more, it’s available on our youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Z4u0DKbx0 #scicomm

Whoohoo it's Friday! Enjoy this little alveolar macrophage smiling up at you #scicomm

We are pleased to announce that our COVID-19 qPCR Detection Kit is currently permitted for US distribution by the FDA under Section IV.C and is priced at only $1.77/test. Our GenomeCoV19 Detection Kit (Cat. No. G628.v2) is: Currently widely used in Europe under the CE IVD Certification... Ready-to-use (includes MasterMix, Primers/Probes and internal controls) Highly sensitive with LoD of 5 cp/ul Results within 1 hour In-stock/immediately available Read detailed clinical performance data here: https://www.abmgood.com/genomecov19-detection-kit.html #COVID19 #SARSCOV2 #COVIDTest

This month's #CellSpotlight is a spotlight on our collection of immortalized lung cells. These days, there's lots of vigorous research into lung health and disease - you can explore our complete catalog here: https://www.abmgood.com/Coronavirus-SARS-CoV-2-Cell-Lines #SARSCoV2 #COVID19

How many of you struggle to share your research in English because it's not your first language? Ramírez Castañeda, a biology Master's student interviewed 49 Colombian biologists and got responses such as ‘I’m about to quit science because of English,’ or, ‘I haven’t been able to graduate because I can’t afford the English courses". Science is predominantly shared in English and this article discusses what can be done to make research more accessible: https://www.sciencema...g.org//science-s-english-dominance-hi #SciComm #SciComm #PhDChat #ScienceTwitter

Happy Friday! Here's some motivational graffiti?

Happy Friday! This Pedromics cartoon cracked us up Here's to hoping your error bars are looking nice this Friday! #Science

Have you heard of retrons? They're complexes of RNA, DNA, and a reverse transcriptase! Nobody knew what their function was until recently, when scientists discovered they help bacteria self-destruct when infected by viruses. This Science article discusses how retrons could become a new tool for synthetic biology: https://www.sciencemag.org//microbes-mystery-dna-helps-def... #LifeSciences

Applied Biological Materials Inc., (abm) is a rapidly growing Vancouver-based R&D biotech company whose products and services are pushing the frontiers of Life Sciences research worldwide. We currently have one opening for a customer service specialist. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, the following Providing general customer services... Order entry Answering customer inquiries over the phone Qualifications: shortlisted candidates will have the following experience: A minimum of BSc. in a biology related major Exceptional communication abilities A minimum of two previous industry experiences required. Ability to work in a dynamic, fast-paced, team environment. Good time management Salary will be dependent on previous experience How To Apply: Please apply with your resume and cover letter through our career site at www.abmgood.com or at [email protected]. We would like to thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those chosen for an interview will be contacted. #Biotech #LifeSciences #Careers #BiotechJob

Hi everyone! Last year, we created a webinar "The Beginner's Guide to RNA-Seq" which is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lAVfKbRK3I If you need a basic intro to the platform, we made the webinar for you! Here's a snippet of the introduction:... What is RNA sequencing? In essence, RNA-seq is a technique that allows us to begin with cells or tissues and examine the expressed genes by taking advantage of next generation sequencing. This method offers information about changes in gene expression and identifying novel splicing events in genes. There are many techniques available which can be used to study the role of genes in developmental diseases! 1Starting with the Northern Blot which was developed in 1977 by James Alwin, David Kemp, and George Stark at Stanford, this tool was extremely useful as it allowed the study of gene expression via RNA detection. 2Real Time qPCR was developed in the early '80s by Kary Mullis and allowed for detection, characterization, and quantification of RNA transcripts. 3The microarray was developed by Patrick Brown at Stanford. This tool is used to simultaneously study expression levels of thousands of genes at one time. 4Finally, RNA-seq allows us to reveal the presence and quantity of RNA in a biological sample at any given moment and track changes in gene expression over time. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The first 3 methods have low reagent costs and can be done easily in your own lab. On the other hand, RNA-seq enables single nucleotide resolution and the ability to sequence NEW transcriptomes without needing to know any prior data. This is just a clip from "The Beginner's Guide to RNA-Seq". We’ll take you step-by-step through the basics of NGS and RNA sequencing in the full webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lAVfKbRK3I. #SciComm

Post-doctoral fellow, Lena Dolgosheina from Dr. Peter Unrau's RNA Research Lab at Simon Fraser University is using the novel RNA Mango dye to help develop #COVID19 testing kits! This is a great time to be a scientist joining forces against #COVID19. Read more about it here: http://www.sfu.ca//coronavirus-testing-kits-to-be-develope

What's in a gene's name? Genes like MARCH1 and SEPT1 are being renamed because Excel changes them into dates! A 2016 study on genetic data shared in 3,597 papers and found that 1/5th are affected by these excel errors. Aside from issues that could arise from excel formatting, gene names are changed by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) all the time, with input from the respective research communities.... Gene could be changed to: Avoid false positives (e.g. CARS to CARS1, WARS to WARS1, MARS to MARS1) Avoid potential offense, keeping in mind clinician may have to explain a patient's condition using the gene name (e.g. Headcase Homolog (Drosophila) or HECA changed to hdc homology, cell cycle regulator) Full article: https://www.theverge.com//human-genes-rename-microsoft-exc #SciComm

Cells can solve mazes! Scientists from Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute put an amoeba and mouse cancer cells in the microscopic equivalent of an English hedge maze and found that the cells were able to solve the mazes by creating their own chemical concentration gradients. Read the article here: ... https://www.sciencemag.org//watch-amoebas-solve-microscopi #SciComm #CellBiology

Thinking of pivoting into a new area of research? Sometimes the narrowness of our research specialties makes us feel trapped - but it's not too late to reinvent a career! This Science article shares a success story: https://www.sciencemag.org//when-financial-crisis-tanked-m... #SciComm

Ever wonder how amino acids got their names? Some highlights: Serine: From the Latin word sericum meaning "silk", because it was first obtained from silk protein Arginine: From the Greek work arginoeis, which meant "silver" due to the appearance of arginine nitrate... Asparagine: First extracted in 1806 from a sample of asparagus juice, after which it was named Poster by etymology nerd

Happy Friday! This Pedromics cartoon cracked us up Here's to hoping your error bars are looking nice this Friday! #Science

Hi everyone! Last year, we created a webinar "The Beginner's Guide to RNA-Seq" which is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lAVfKbRK3I If you need a basic intro to the platform, we made the webinar for you! Here's a snippet of the introduction:... What is RNA sequencing? In essence, RNA-seq is a technique that allows us to begin with cells or tissues and examine the expressed genes by taking advantage of next generation sequencing. This method offers information about changes in gene expression and identifying novel splicing events in genes. There are many techniques available which can be used to study the role of genes in developmental diseases! 1Starting with the Northern Blot which was developed in 1977 by James Alwin, David Kemp, and George Stark at Stanford, this tool was extremely useful as it allowed the study of gene expression via RNA detection. 2Real Time qPCR was developed in the early '80s by Kary Mullis and allowed for detection, characterization, and quantification of RNA transcripts. 3The microarray was developed by Patrick Brown at Stanford. This tool is used to simultaneously study expression levels of thousands of genes at one time. 4Finally, RNA-seq allows us to reveal the presence and quantity of RNA in a biological sample at any given moment and track changes in gene expression over time. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The first 3 methods have low reagent costs and can be done easily in your own lab. On the other hand, RNA-seq enables single nucleotide resolution and the ability to sequence NEW transcriptomes without needing to know any prior data. This is just a clip from "The Beginner's Guide to RNA-Seq". We’ll take you step-by-step through the basics of NGS and RNA sequencing in the full webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lAVfKbRK3I. #SciComm

What is advice you wished you had before starting grad school? After conducting exit interviews with graduating Ph.D. students over 3 years at a biomedical university, this Science article lists the most common pieces of advice: 1 Choose your mentor carefully (32%)... 2 Start planning your future career early (20%) 3 Pay attention to your mental health (13%) 4 Map our your goals (12%) 5 Find work-life balance (9%) 6 The remaining 14% of advice includes: Be assertive and ask what you need, learn to trust your experimental results as long as controls work, plan your projects around what's needed for a publishable paper Do you agree? Link: https://www.sciencemag.org//navigate-phd-recent-graduates- #SciComm

Wow this is fascinating: "Zombie" cells that live beneath the seafloor subsist on "a zeptowatt" (10^-12) of energy. Humans use ~100 watts ! Turns out you don't need that much energy to get by https://www.quantamagazine.org/zombie-microbes-redefine-lif... #SciComm

What's in a gene's name? Genes like MARCH1 and SEPT1 are being renamed because Excel changes them into dates! A 2016 study on genetic data shared in 3,597 papers and found that 1/5th are affected by these excel errors. Aside from issues that could arise from excel formatting, gene names are changed by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) all the time, with input from the respective research communities.... Gene could be changed to: Avoid false positives (e.g. CARS to CARS1, WARS to WARS1, MARS to MARS1) Avoid potential offense, keeping in mind clinician may have to explain a patient's condition using the gene name (e.g. Headcase Homolog (Drosophila) or HECA changed to hdc homology, cell cycle regulator) Full article: https://www.theverge.com//human-genes-rename-microsoft-exc #SciComm

Cells can solve mazes! Scientists from Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute put an amoeba and mouse cancer cells in the microscopic equivalent of an English hedge maze and found that the cells were able to solve the mazes by creating their own chemical concentration gradients. Read the article here: ... https://www.sciencemag.org//watch-amoebas-solve-microscopi #SciComm #CellBiology

Which book would make it on your summer reading list? How about "All Quiet on the Lab Front?" for those who have put a pause on their labwork? Art by Tom Gauld

The month is almost over but this month's #CellSpotlight is on our immortalized bronchial smooth muscle cells! This cell line is valuable for respiratory disease research. More info here: https://www.abmgood.com/immortalized-human-bronchial-smooth

Happy Friday! In your opinion, which gene "talks too much"? Enjoy this genetic equivalent of shushing a chatty co-worker Art/Joke by Beatrice the Biologist ... #ScienceJokes

"It’s just a very difficult and disappointing and worrisome time. I’ve lost people that I know to COVID-19. It’s a bat-origin coronavirus. We should have been there trying to find out why this thing emerged. And right now I’m sat in my house, looking out the window, unable to do this work, because the NIH has told us that it’s not appropriate. It’s extremely frustrating." Peter Daszak, head of an organization that does bat coronavirus research, has been at the centre of a ...controversial NIH grant that was cancelled earlier this year due to its research collaborations with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The grant has now been re-instated - but with what he says are politically motivated, absurd demands and conditions, including: - a request to obtain a vial of SARS-CoV-2 sample that WIV used to sequence the virus - a request to arrange an inspection of WIV by US federal officials Full nature article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02473-4 #ScienceNews #SARSCoV2

Wow this is fascinating: "Zombie" cells that live beneath the seafloor subsist on "a zeptowatt" (10^-12) of energy. Humans use ~100 watts ! Turns out you don't need that much energy to get by https://www.quantamagazine.org/zombie-microbes-redefine-lif... #SciComm

Hi everyone, Here's a free tool we made that you might find useful if you're setting up a #CRISPR gene editing experiment for the first time! https://www.abmgood.com/crispr-experimental-design-tool... Enjoy! PS - Who here likes our bean-shaped Cas9 nuclease? #SciComm

Which book would make it on your summer reading list? How about "All Quiet on the Lab Front?" for those who have put a pause on their labwork? Art by Tom Gauld

If you're planning a project that involves working with cells, you'll need to decide right off the bat, whether to use primary or immortalized cells. But, what's the difference? Primary cells, also known as finite cells, are cells that are directly prepared from an organism’s tissues. If grown under the right conditions primary cells will grow and proliferate, but they are only able to do so a finite number of times.... This number is known as the Hayflick limit. The Hayflick limit is related to the telomere length at the end of the cell’s DNA. As cells undergo each cell division, a small segment of the telomere is lost after each time DNA is duplicated. This process eventually leads to a stage of senescence, where the cells can no longer divide. Immortalized or continuous cell lines, on the other hand, are able to escape the normal constraints of the cell cycle and grow indefinitely, making them extremely useful for long-term research. Whereas primary cells are obtained directly from donor tissues, cell lines can be derived from clinical tumors, or created from transforming primary cells with viral oncogenes or chemical treatments. While primary cells are known for their virtue of retaining most of the characteristics of the original tissue from which they are derived from, they are difficult to maintain in culture and can have batch-to-batch variation. Immortalized cells offer a solution to this setback and present a constant supply of research material. Watch our Cell Culture Youtube Playlist to learn more about the differences and how to generate immortalized cells : https://www.youtube.com/playlist #SciComm #CellBiology

We spend so much time collecting and creating our data/figures but how do we present it so that we can convey our message to an audience clearly, precisely, and efficiently? Here are some easy things you can do: Simplify your axes Make your font and lines bigger Remove clutter... Walk your audience through the figure https://manchesterresearchhive.wordpress.com//figuring-ou/ #SciComm

Very cool! A team from the University of Chicago's Marine Biology Laboratory knocked out a pigmentation gene (TDO) in squid embryos to produce completely transparent squid! This is the first time researchers have used CRISPR gene editing on cephalopods, which have the largest brain of all invertebrates, can recode their own genetic information, and display other sophisticated behaviors.... https://news.uchicago.edu//scientists-knock-out-squid-gene #CRISPR

This month, we're shining the #CellSpotlight on our SARS-CoV-2 Spike Expressing Cell Lines! Our graphic features a cell investigating the SARS-CoV-2's spike protein illustrating how we can use such cell lines to learn more about the Coronavirus Spike protein! The general mechanism is: SARS-CoV-2 enters the host cell via the spike glycoprotein (S) (a target for neutralization antibodies) to mediate membrane fusion and virus entry. S protein has two functional subunits. S1 ...subunit, for binding to the host cell receptor and, S2 subunit for the fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike Expressing Cell Lines may be used to study interaction between SARS-CoV-2 spike and the human host receptor, ACE2, in cell-based assays, and to study the pathways of COVID-19. For more information about our SARS-CoV-2 cell line collection, visit our website: https://www.abmgood.com/Coronavirus-SARS-CoV-2-Cell-Lines #Coronavirus #SARSCoV2 #COVID19