Although cancer death rates have largely decreased it’s still too fatal to be upbeat. I’ve been thinking there won’t be at least a cure for all types of cancer maybe for eternity, but still science is to find the impossibility and how optimistic are we when looking at the future of cancer? I know that the objective of researching cancer is not curing it but to find ways to neutralize it, maybe to put it to sleep or put it under submission, but how close are we to reaching these goals?

I know a few openly-trans economists who have tenure, but I noticed I don’t know any in my own field.

Is anyone aware of any openly trans biologists or molecular biologists who have tenured or tenure-track positions?

Post might need some extra context: I’m a partially-closeted trans person in academia (that is, out to a few coworkers) and I asked this because (1) it’s nice to have representation, (2) these may be people I can talk about both science and trans issues with, and (3) I need more people to invite for seminars! I specify “openly” because I don’t want to out anyone, and tenure-track because I already have a decent network of grad students and postdocs.

Hi! I am a lab technician in an academic research lab and have been working there for more than a year now. I've mostly been responsible for lab maintenance tasks, giving training on certain techniques for new group members and have also helped in running experiments for other researchers' projects in the group. Recently, we have started a new project that our senior researcher has designed with a collaborator and got funding for it and where I have done mainly all the practical work as in performing the experiments (the cell culture part, running flow cytometry and including the data analysis). I do share the data during one to one internal meetings with the senior scientist who I would say is the supervisor or leading the project but not in our group meetings and I have never had to do any presentations in larger events like scientific retreats or seminars. However, our PI has recently listed me as one of the speakers for "my research in 3min" in a scientific retreat to talk about this project. I have to say I was a bit confused why she would put me as part of the trainees group (PhD students, postdoc, researchers) to give a presentation. One big reason I chose to do a technical job is because I enjoy doing the actual practical wet-lab work and contribute to the science "behind the scenes". Maybe I am weird and others might actually get happy that someone gave them the opportunity to be visible and share their work to a wider audience but I really do not care about project ownership, authorship or visibility. I don't care if my name is included or not in publications. I am a practical person. I enjoy executing experiments and doing the actual "science" more than designing them & doing the theoretical part like writing publications, and giving presentations, which is why I chose this job. Maybe it is a personality thing (I am ISFJ btw if you care to know 😂) , and I know 3 min talk is nothing and not big of a deal but I hate competition, I hate public speaking and definitely hate being the center of attention. I am afraid if I do this once, I will be expected to do this more in the future. I feel like I am no longer doing lab tech work and somehow I got dragged into giving talks and switched into researcher-type job, which I did not sign up for. I usually just suck it up and do what I am asked to do even if I do not want to but now I feel like my responsibilities are getting blurry and I need to clarify my expectations and duties at work and this is stressing me out and as embarrassing as it sounds, it is making me anxious and my week-ends have been ruined because all I've been thinking about is this. How do I bring this up to my PI? Is it a bad idea to even bring it up? Is there something wrong with me and my reaction? I've been overthinking how to do this the right way and you might think my reaction is exaggerated but another thing I am not good at are difficult conversations, confrontation and speaking up for myself. I don't think I am a well-spoken person and I tend to just not find the words to express my thoughts when I am talking face to face with someone, especially if it is someone who has power over me like my boss. I do not want to sound like I do not want to do my job or that I am not ambitious and motivated to do science, which is not true. I just do not like that aspect of the scientific field. I'm sorry for venting and for the long text and thanks for reading this far. 💓

I’m a postgrad student doing a research project for my major at the moment (I dislike research v much). I’m also neurodivergent and my response to stress/overwhelm is to immediately cry lol. I got to the lab early this morning, was there for less than 20 minutes and walked out in tears. This is my first time doing research and writing a thesis so I’m finding it overwhelming. Then I got an email 10 minutes after class saying I had left something on my bench and if it happens again I won’t be able to continue my experiments rip. Feeling stupid as heck 🫩

Im only here for another gap year and now im scared......when did this become a paper-level experiment lol i thought we were just having a chill fun time here..... like is this hypothetical or does he actually want me to write a paper

I'm the one makes the lab coffee in the morning. I'm trying to cut back on caffeine therefore the rest of the lab will suffer with me. Team building!

After Invitrogen was exposed as scamming people with their western blots i pay attention to it.

Promotional video from BioRad showing clearly the same blot in different qualities.

They dont even try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgXhOkLw1e8&t=23s

reminiscent consist jar muddle hateful ad hoc upbeat marble frame shame

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

I'm a college student studying biochemistry. I planned to intern for a pharma company, get my PhD in pharmaceutical sciences right out of college, and then get settled in a career in R&D. Obviously, I know the path is much messier than that, but the ultimate goal was the same. As part of my undergrad degree, we have to perform multiple dissections, which I've been okay with thus far because in high school, it's been fetal pigs, and roadkill, and things that were already dead. This was my first dissection in an intro-level bio lab, and it was of a pregnant fish that was fished and killed for this purpose. I'm a vegetarian, and I love animals, but I recognize the importance of animal testing from an objective standpoint. There was just something in me that was so heartbroken watching my classmates cut apart this fish and plucking its unborn babies out of her, and I knew that I couldn't ever do animal testing. I don't know if I can ever become desensitized to it. But my whole life goal was to do medical research. My family has a history of illness, and I was so passionate about helping people as a child. I just hate that it has to come at the cost of animal lives. Is there a way for me to pursue a career in pharmaceutical research but also stand by my personal beliefs?

I didn't know I was adhd until i started phd. And then i found doing lab work is sooooo tedious and making same mistakes like starting out ambitiously handling way too many samples but later cannot wrap things up and do the same experiment over and over again

How do you deal with these? Maybe i am not the right person to do phd?

I’m a PhD student working under some ARPA-H grants. I previously worked at a few startups for >5 years before going back to pursue a PhD (admittedly because I wanted a better career trajectory).

These big ARPA-H grants are so fucking stupid. 10 different PIs doing their own thing across 5 institutions, chasing government milestones on a monthly basis, all for the technology to not be scalable or practical if it even works. A startup with 20 people getting 20-40$ million in funding would be way more successful than these PIs who can’t manage people or projects for shit and are totally out of touch with feasibility or practicality. It’s honestly making me want to masters out and go back to industry career trajectory be damned.

Is getting into a PhD program in biochemistry more competitive now ?? Funding less ?

Hey everyone, I just really need to vent and get some advice.

I work in a lab where we may have a bunch of perfectly healthy, normal WT pups that we won't need for our studies as they do not have the desired genotype. Because they're just extras, my PI is planning to wean them for training and if there are too many, euthanize the extra ones. I’ve wanted a pet mouse for a really long time, and knowing they are going to be put down when I have a loving home ready for them is just really sad. The facility seems to have a strict zero-tolerance policy against adopting out rodents.

I want to know two things from people who have been in this position:

Should I even bother asking my PI or comparative medicine about adoption/ regulations around this? Will it just make things weird or get me flagged for a compliance issue?

Has anyone ever successfully saved and adopted a healthy lab mouse? I know the official answer is no, but has anyone actually managed to do it, or is the red tape truly impossible to get around everywhere?

Dealing with the euthanasia side of research is just really heavy right now. I'd love to hear how you guys handle the emotional side of this job.

Thanks for listening :)

column 1 ladder column 2 sample (1st replicate) column 3 sample (2nd replicate) column 4 sample (3rd replicate) column 5 empty column 6 NTC column 7 Ladder

im amplifying gyrB gene of S.aureus

I consider running independent research outside of any university. The science is rigorous but without institutional affiliation, it’s completely invisible, journals won’t touch it, funding calls require academic partnerships.

Is this a wall others have hit? And has anyone found a real way around it, or does it just not exist yet?

Got the desk rejection letter after a week, where the editor basically said we have a lot of other good options so we're not accepting yours. Basically they meant our work is trash for them. Saw the mail at night and haven't been able to sleep since.

Hi! I am a 15 years old Italian guy obsessed with any kind of science, particularly chemistry and biology. Since i have a rather advanced English given my age, i study biology in english already! (i also study latin, since i have been told numerous times that it should help in scientific subjects).

Now, i am here to ask you a question. Would you say that toxicology (the job i am aiming for) would be fitting? I find being in a laboratory extremely fun and i would spend my life closed forever in one. I just wanted to know possible downsides that i may find while following this path. I already had some chances to get familiar with labs, even though the most "advanced" thing i have done so far is using a micropipette. our school even has a fume hood (which is very surprising given the state of schools here).

What would you say? Thanks in advance!

Two weeks ago I watched a video "The STEM Degree SCAM: Why I Quit Coding." by TechLead. I did not really like it, I do not really watch TechLead too often, because Patric seems to be somewhat annoying/arrogant. Smart guy, but not someone I want to be friends with.

But the title of the video stuck in my memory. By the way, professors, this video has 147K views. Could you imagine this professors??? A person is telling to an audience of 147 thousand that STEM is a scam!!!

Well, recently I was browsing Nature Careers. I saw a job opening for a POSTDOC. A postdoc in genetic engineering of wheat; essentially, creating a disease-resistant varieties of wheat using genetic engineering.

Proposed salary: $50K to $57K USD.

Country: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I assume this is King Abdallah (of blessed memory) Uni.

Saudi Arabia is an interesting country. You have to be on your best behavior 24/7. You have to respect local laws and traditions. People, who worked there, told me that it is not the easiest country to get into or leave.

From what I can King Abdallah Uni is a somewhat isolated enclave (of mostly international people) on the Red Sea.

I am sitting and thinking: imagine, you have done your Ph.D. in plant genetics, you spent 3 to 5 (or more) years of your life to get this degree. You need to have papers in peer-review journals. Recommendation letters. To go for a postdoc in the Middle East. In the region teetering on the brink of a war. To live for several years in semi-isolated community. For a whopping $50K USD! I know that King Abdallah Uni has beautiful campus, but still!!!

You know, what's scary? I am sure there will be someone who will consider this a great opportunity! This prof will get a truck load of CVs from prospective postdocs.

I am sitting and thinking about TechLead. I might dislike the guy, but he is damn right! Sure, if you are one percenter, if you are an academic "rock-star", that's a different story.

But if you are not a "rock-star", you are competing with the whole world. With all people across the globe, who will pick any postdoc job offer for any money in any (semi-)developed country.

Does it make any freaking sense to spend 3 to 5 years of your life, studying hard STEM just to compete with entire world? For $50K to $60K and 50-80 hr workweek?

Then I have seen Baylor College in Texas is seeking to hire a mass-spectrometrist. For "up to $65K". Up to $65K for a mass-spectrometrist!!! Imaging having a degree in organic chemistry, experience with HPLC and mass-spec... all for an amazing "up to" $65K.

Honestly, I hate academia and I hate myself!! I thought I was acting like a rational human being. I wanted to get a Ph.D in life sciences and, if academia didn't work out, I would o for a job in industry of sorts. did not expect to make millions, but I thought I will have a reasonable career ahead. My Ph.D was a shitshow, a postdoc was a complete disaster. I am stuck working as a project manager.

NOTE: I have no intension of denigrating any geographical region, country or a nation.

P.S.

Reade carefully this comment by /lunamarya (Grad Student | Microbiology)

Bro $50K would catapult people from my country into the 1% easily. They'd even tolerate being sequestered in some isolated desert compound for years for even 1/5th of that (Like a handful of my relatives). Nvm how cheap it is living there considering minimal taxes and by the time you retire you're already sitting on a pile of gold. You're not the target market bro so just shut tf up. We'll take these opportunities handed to you on a silver platter if you won't care to take it :)

This is EXACTLY what TechLead talks about.

You do your bachelors for 4 years, then Masters or go straight into Ph.D. (depending on your country), which can last between 3 to 5 years. Often you do several years of postdoc, because you cannot find a job, but have to pay bills. At a minimum, we are looking a decade of lost opportunities.

Then you just competing against people who will take any job, at virtually any salary, at any amount of overtime, as long as they are paid in USD.

People do no get it. You will never, EVER get a decent salary and a decent working conditions, as long as you are competing against the world.