Today I was at the center again. I got my last four plates (exons) ready to be submitted for sequencing. Not only does this involve getting the Dye-Ex plates ready, loading them with my samples, drying the samples down, resuspending them, and denaturing them, but some paperwork goes along with it. You have to make a chart of how your plate is loaded, and you have to create a corresponding excel spreadsheet with the sample names. It's all very specific! But I have quite gotten the hang of it this interim, certainly moreso than I did this summer. I think it is because I am acting more independently now in the research (at least the motions) than I was this summer; this of course has to do with the isolation aspect in working at Wofford's lab by myself. It's a very valuable experience!
I also analyzed four of the sequences, which I submitted yesterday. I made notes on anything that I found and submitted them to Melanie. Everything about this gene goes in a binder, and each exon has its own tab. This is generally how things are organized at the center. I had a few notebooks that I was keeping up this summer as I worked on a few different genes. It is especially useful because you can look back on how you carried out a reaction (what temperatures, times, etc.) and see how it turned out. I've learned the power of keeping good notes because of this practice.
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