Introduction to One Pagers
We strive to provide beginner iGEM teams with simple tips and information on how to successfully execute their projects in wet lab research. Our one-pagers include topics such as lab procedures, laboratory equipment, and safety rules, which are all important features that contribute to conducting research. We hope that our experiences in wet labs can provide insight in the research aspect of projects and pave a path for future iGEM teams.
What Our One Pagers Cover
Email template: Understanding how to craft an email that aligns with your goal is important when discussing with potential stakeholders, labs, and your community to explicitly get your point across. In the provided email outline, we communicated with a lab that we wanted to work with, however, it can be modified. We hope that our template will guide beginner iGEM teams in their outreach.
Lab safety rules: Working in labs requires taking precautions that protect yourself, the experiment, and the environment outside the lab. These safety rules are important for understanding the basic precautions that prevent accidents and ensure everyone’s safety.
Common laboratory equipment: Various lab equipment serves specific purposes in producing your results. These descriptions will help you gain a better understanding of each equipment that is commonly used.
Basic Lab Procedures: Basic lab procedures are essential for the consistency, accuracy, and safety of your experiment.
Micropipetting: Micropipettes are commonly used laboratory tools that efficiently and precisely measure small amounts of liquids that are transferred. Pipettes differ in measuring volumes, with most between 1 and 1000µl, which is extremely helpful in yielding accurate results when dispensing liquids. Additionally, micropipettes may appear simple, but they are fragile tools that can easily break, which may affect the accuracy of measurement. Because micropipettes are commonly used, it is important to use them properly.
PLATEMASTER®: The PLATEMASTER® is a tool that can pipette into 96 well and 384 well plates at once. This is a tool that we used and had some struggle learning, which is why we wanted to address it in our One Pagers. It is a tool that is less commonly found in labs, but is fragile, making it important to use correctly.
Serial dilution: Serial dilution is a process in which a given substance concentration is repeatedly reduced until it meets a usable concentration.
Making a biological part: Crafting a biological part allows scientists to introduce foreign DNA into a cell and study DNA sequencing, modifying genes, and more to advance research in various fields. This description provides a step-by-step on how to transform bacteria.
Screening: A laboratory process where a large number of organisms are tested to isolate and detect certain organisms of interest.
Titration: A laboratory process where a response is measured over a variety of concentrations, typically at a scale factor
