The Protein Man's Blog | A Discussion of Protein Research

Congratulations, your hard work and the powers that be have allowed you to start a biotech program and set up your very own biotechnology teaching lab. Where do you even begin?

How do you break open bacterial cells in the lab? While the enzyme lysozyme is mainly responsible for lysing bacterial cells in nature, you can achieve the same effect by using particular enzymes, detergents, and chaotropic agents, and/or certain mechanical methods (e.g., sonication, repeated freezing and thawing, filtration, etc.).

Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing industries and offers healthy starting salaries. Now is the time to educate students in biotechnology and the skills needed to pursue a career in this fast-growing field.

Aside from its significant role in the natural world, fluorescence is also hard at work in biotechnology and the life sciences. In fact, fluorescent dyes are being widely used in numerous applications such as flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, Western blotting, and DNA electrophoresis. Just how important are these dyes and how do you choose one that best suits your application? Here are some things you need to know to help you make the right decision.