What can I say that I haven't already said about science? This has really been a tough time for me with this experiment, but FINALLY I have had a actual breakthrough, thanks to Anil. For those of you who don't know him, his is a professor here int he Bioscience department, he is kind, patient and brilliant. It was his idea to go through all of the stock solutions that I was working with to see what they looked like. I had been using a DNA extraction buffer that one of my fellow had made and there seems to have been some issues with that from the get-go. There is a key element of the extraction buffer called EDTA, this comes in the form of a powder and a liquid. The other student used the powder and created the solution and for some reason (either miscalculation or the age of the powder) my DNA was not reacting with the solution and I was not able to get any DNA bands. Anil took one look at it and wanted me to start from the beginning and create a new extraction buffer. This time we used EDTA premixed solution that we had in the fridge and DNase and RNase free water to make the buffer. It was all smooth from there, the consistency of DNA when I placed it in my electrophoresis gel was different and I know from there that I was on the right tract.
It was like science magic, I got the bands that i had been hoping for, for weeks. I was so excited and I shared my scientific elation to whom ever would listen!
As usual...my ending quote
Nobody
trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to
stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have
crossed the mountain. ~Author Unknown
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