Alistair's Lab Notebook

10:15 am – 7:00 pm

Literature

• Feedly stopped updating articles from Bickmore. Missed some good recent stuff.
• catching up on recent Cell paper from Aiden lab.
• catching up on recent G&D and Science paper from Bickmore lab.
• title browsing for other important updates — made it through backlog from Nature and Science.

Project 2

• reviews back
• team meeting, preliminary responses to all comments + planned experiments
• plan meeting with XZ to discuss strategy tomorrow.

10:20 am – 6:30 pm

Embryo experiments

• selected 2 old and 3 more new coverglass. Stain with WGA-488 (this won’t intefere with 405 excitation)
• screen coverglass for good embryo sections.
• GS disrupted by recruitment obligations, we’ll resume this tomorrow / Sunday

K99

• writing Data sharing plan.
• working on BioSketch Section C, contributions to Science

10:15 am – 10:45 pm

Experiments

• selected 3 embryo coverslips
• staining with En, Eve, and Abd-B protein
• label with Alexa 561, image on Turnkey.
• embryo sections not so good — should prestain with WGA and check under-turnkey. Try again tomorrow.

K99

• notes for AS for letter
• sent Candidate Background, Training Plan, and Career Objectives to Carly for feedback
• revising Research Plan.
• revised first round draft of new K99 research plan. Sent to Rasi for feedback.

1:00 pm – 9:00 pm

(Racing canceled for snow) 🙁

U01

• added section on applications
• discussion with CW about intro, splitting up writing, and BB paper.

K99

• revised Candidate’s background
• finished initial draft of Specific Aims
• working on rewriting BW research proposal into K99 reserach proposal

9:00 am – 8:00 pm

Experiments and Training

• teaching ultra-cryo sectioning
• first two section broke off block — not good enough pyramid / contact area. Better to use trimming knife to carve pyramid
• third mounted section cut well, had good natural pyramidal shape.
• section quality with -45C knife, -50C sample and -52C chamber seemed to cut very well — samples in green box downstairs.

Writing

U01

• working on new methods section
• working on description of results section
• finished writing both sections
• integrated figures, wrote captions
• proofread document, sent to Xiaowei

K99

• troubleshooting how to submit requests for letter writers
• got registered as a PI on eRA commons

9:20 am – 6:30 pm,

K99

Working on Training Plan

• completed draft of training plan
• completed draft on training in responsible conduct of research
• working on Specific Aims document

U01

• working on text for my sections

Experiments

• cleaned and coated coverglass with GS
• hydrated some 2-14 hr yw embryos, embedded in 12% gelatin
• equilibrated embryos in 30% sucrose then 70% sucrose.

Lab stuff

• software install for Laptop and Monet, 1pm
• lab safety meeting, 2pm

Notes

• where labcoats
• lab will stop stocking latex
• hazardous waste disposal
  • must pick a hazard
  • only 4 most common components
  • hefty fines for unlabeled bottles
  • last inspection was surprise
• Lasers
  • goggles and supervision for alignment
• Laser microscope training records
  • require reading manual
  • require signature