(a.k.a. Things That Will Make YOU Feel Better When You Botch Up in the Lab and other things too)
Note: My apologies to those who will not understand some of the jargon, but I believe you'll pick them up anyway =D
1. Do not unplug anything in the lab in an effort to conserve energy, you just might find your samples thawing the next day.
2. If you want to clearly observe your samples, don't use acetone to erase permanent ink on your disposable container (You'll know why).
3. No matter how many PCR trials you do, whether you change the temperature, MgCl2 concentration, or your primers, you will never get bands if you don't put in the polymerase. Believe me, I know. PCR is called polymerase chain reaction for a reason.
4. Proper labeling is good, just make sure you don't put it on the cover slip.
5. In dissecting the frog with a nagging, complaining partner, make sure you have a proper hold on your scalpel. It's not that you might injure an organ, it's just that you might cut the wrong specimen.
6. Upon getting that oh-so-wanted result, write it on really nice paper and not on scratch less you want to skim through all the trash bins in IC (Institute of Chemistry in UP Diliman) because your partner thought it was rubbish.
7. Try to imagine naming your children with the amino acid names or species names, it will help you memorize things quicker, because at the back of your mind, you keep thanking your parents for not naming you Glutamic Acid.
8. Don't get too excited when you culture flies or mice or any other organism, you won't see them IN ACTION, unless you guard them 24 hours nonstop. But then again, give these animals some rest will you? You're going to slice them up anyway.
9. Check where you plug your machines, because though we love sparks in movies, we wouldn't love them in real life, specially if it requires financial compensation.
10. In everything, forgive yourself, it's all part of the process, more mistakes=more learning=better experience, but then again we prefer to learn from the mistakes of others. Never doubt your skills, never lose faith, hold on, press on, you will get there.
