Lab Expectations

Have you ever sat frozen at the keyboard, facing the due date for your abstract and asking yourself how you can condense all of this information into 200 words or less? If this scenario resonates with you, rest assured you are not alone. There is a learning curve for writing an effective abstract, and thankfully there are also some tips that will help you get started and finish strong.

We're excited to partner with Science: Disrupt to present a five-part podcast exploring what 'Responsible Science' means amidst the reproducibility crisis.

In Mr. D’s sophomore English class, almost no subject was taboo or off limits. Even with our class projects, he encouraged us to pursue topics that truly interested us, and sometimes that meant having to educate Mr. D about something entirely new to him. But if your presentation included stunning visuals, you had to be prepared to paint a word picture. Macular degeneration rendered his otherwise healthy eyes all-but-useless. 

Advances in mass spectrometry instrumentation and sample handling methods have propelled proteomics and extended its utility for both basic biology and early drug development. Changes in protein abundance and post-translational modification state often reflect the activity of a novel therapeutic agent as well as the sensitivity/resistance of a biological system to treatment.

For those who wish to bring a measure of rationality to the western blot data in the literature, loading controls can induce a fair amount of hand wringing. There are some obvious criteria. First, the protein level of the loading control must not be altered by experimental conditions. Second, the molecular weight of the control must be different from the protein of interest. Third, and most importantly, the signal detected for both the loading control and the protein of interest must be in a linear range, otherwise you’ll find yourself with burnt-out bands that you’ll be unable to quantify. 

It's Pi Day! 3.14! π! We've celebrated before, but this year we wanted to do something bigger. Don't get me wrong, we love baking and eating delicious pies, but have we waxed mathematical!? Well this year, CST's bravest of the brave ran our gauntlet of pi-related trivia! They didn't just eat pie, they earned it. Luckily, CST News anchor Jak Stat and the CST News team were live on the scene.

Congratulations to our CEO and founder Dr. Michael J. Comb, whom CiteAb has selected for a lifetime achievement award. Dr. Comb likes fly-fishing in Alaska and rock climbing in Yosemite more than he likes the spotlight, but this award has given us the opportunity to acknowledge our fearless leader. CiteAb recognizes individuals from the research community for their dedication and contribution to the research reagent industry over a sustained period. Dr. Comb is being honored for his tireless efforts to build the best antibody technology in the world for researchers working to understand the molecular and cellular processes of disease.

It’s Valentine’s Day. You can’t put out that bowl of candy hearts because…NO FOOD IN THE LAB!!! Okay, fair enough, but there has to be another way to send a message to someone special at the bench. Why not use antibodies to your advantage? The label of your vials might have all the messaging you need!

We as scientists learn from each success and failure. Sometimes it takes many failures to achieve success. And some discoveries are made with no fanfare, far from the spotlight. Other times, a good day’s work is even sweeter when you realize someone noticed!

The importance of antibodies as tools in scientific research studies cannot be understated, yet these reagents have increasingly come under fire for their lack of reproducibility. Part of the issue is that the antibody market is composed of hundreds of vendors and resellers with varying definitions for validation and consistency. Cell Signaling Technology (CST) believes that antibody suppliers should be held accountable for the products they provide, but that vendors alone cannot solve the reproducibility “crisis." How antibodies are validated and used in the laboratory is a critical component to this process. Researchers need to be more attentive to following established protocols and leverage the expertise of the scientists who have developed and tested the product they are using. Journals need to be more active in enforcing existing policies regarding materials and methods or develop more clear-cut means to identify and describe the use of biological reagents in published research. During this webinar we will address the role vendors, researchers, and journals should play in minimizing irreproducibility. We will also outline CST’s antibody validation process, while highlighting steps all users should consider when selecting and using antibodies in their research.