It began with an Instagram pic of a 100 uL tube:
“In this tube I got 100ul of antibody against a protein of my interest. This antibody was raised in mouse and according to simple immunology rules it will bind to (more or less) the same protein this type from (more or less) any other species than mouse 🐭 i.e human, rat🐀, monkey🐒, zebrafish 🐠and even some yeast🍺! Therefore, this 100ul of antibody would allow me measuring amount of my protein in human cells I grow! Uuuhu!”
It’s not very often that one of our antibodies gets this much love on social media, so we were very excited about this and the nearly 300 likes it received. We wanted to know more about @beascientist_ and why they loved our antibodies so much!
The scientist behind Be A Scientist is Agata, a PhD student studying biochemistry at the University of Nottingham. In addition to her research, she runs a blog and active social media profiles promoting women in science, education, and #PhDlife.
We chatted with Agata about the use of antibodies in her research, and she told us what she looks for when purchasing an antibody. “The ratio of price to the amount of antibody I’m gonna get… the quality as well. I’m looking at papers first - if the antibody was used in any papers and if there are any results which shows the antibody works. And source - rabbit, mouse.”
Young scientists training in the lab to #beascientist know that choosing reagents is a critical part of experimental design. When asked if there are there any hurdles she needs to consider when picking an antibody, she replied, “Whether it’s gonna work...that’s the biggest question… if the product I’m spending money on is going to work.”
And what does CST do best? Agata told us, “I think the quality… I just ordered [an] antibody from you and it worked, so I was quite happy about that. I could trust your company enough to order my main loading control and I knew it’s gonna work.”
The best part of the conversation was her excitement about her research and completing her degree. “I want to complete my degree with Cell Signaling antibodies!”, she exclaimed. “I’m gonna do it!” Get it girl!
To celebrate @beascientist_ 2500-follower milestone on Instagram, we teamed up to sponsor a giveaway for the best lab selfies! Here are some of our favorite pics from the contest:
Gotta love that PPE realness!
As a company of scientists for scientists, we know how important it is to share knowledge and resources, because, when it comes down to it, we’re all working towards the same end. Moonshot goals like curing cancer and Alzheimer’s disease can only be met when a community of like-minded people come together. Young scientists like Agata and those in the #labselfies above, are the ones who will be changing our world and we want to be there to help them do it.
