When locating the required chemicals for my protocol, I took it on word that we had phenol on hand. Knowing someone else had conducted aDNA extraction with it, I assumed (there is the problem) that it was what I needed. What I was not aware of was the phenol available in the lab is a pH 6.6, this would be suitable for an RNA extraction. DNA extractions require a pH in the range of 7.5-8.0.
I caught this last friday, and Matt immediately ordered the appropriate phenol solution for me. It is supposed to arrive sometime in the next couple of days.
the small print is there for a reason
A fair amount of waiting time could have been avoided if I would have had the presence of mind to physically check the chemicals on hand. Lesson learned for future use.
My last few posts to this blog might convey a general tone of discouragement or dissatisfaction with my work. I thought it might be prudent of me to state this is not the case. Yes, the problems I have run into have been mildly irritating, but this is part of the process. I am still just as intrigued and interested in this as when I started out! I accept the challenges and will overcome them and hope to see some positive results by semester end.
No comments:
Post a Comment