Again on the subject of getting started

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JDon

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Mar 25, 2012, 7:40:35 AM3/25/12
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Hi, first of all thank you all for your help and openness. A little bit about myself, im an automation engineer with experience mostly on industrial automation and have always enjoyed to read science journals and marvel at the advancements being made. Anyways, i think it is time to step out from behind the journals and finally make some contribution.

The problem is i know very little about how genes work, organic chemistry and biology in general. If i wanted to, say make luminescent bacteria, what would be the theoretical starting points (what books to read, what concepts and ideas do i need to grasp) and what would be the basic lab equipment that i would need to go about putting theory into practice and wrapping my head around this?


Thanks,

JD

Nathan McCorkle

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Mar 26, 2012, 9:14:02 PM3/26/12
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http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/watsoncrick.pdf
http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio/FAQ/Educational

check bigwords.com for this book, its really well written, with great
visualizations (I recommend this as a reference book and for getting
started)
http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Gene-Fifth-Edition/dp/080534635X

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Sumon Sadhu

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Mar 26, 2012, 9:21:22 PM3/26/12
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Also check out www.scitable.com 
Sumon Sadhu

www.sharpshoot.blogspot.com
Skype ID: sks2sly4u2c

Derek

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Mar 26, 2012, 10:19:08 PM3/26/12
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Here's the intro text I recommend to folks these days:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Processes-Life-Introduction-Molecular/dp/0262013053 

Also check out www.scitable.com 


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Nathan McCorkle
Rochester Institute of Technology
College of Science, Biotechnology/Bioinformatics

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Avery louie

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Mar 26, 2012, 10:28:32 PM3/26/12
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Welcome!

Check out my posts on bio; they have some intro on molecular biology and the practical side of getting things done oin the lab.  If you are ever near boston, come visit BOSSLAB.

--Avery

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Richard Proctor

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Mar 28, 2012, 9:27:10 AM3/28/12
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naughty to suggest i know but stick up your email and i'll email you a DRM free copy of genetics for dummies. Suprisingly good for starting off with.

Julio Donastorg Shaimi Collado

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Mar 28, 2012, 10:38:09 AM3/28/12
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And thanks a lot!

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PeterMartin

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Mar 29, 2012, 11:04:27 AM3/29/12
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Whoah mr proctor, that would be helpful indeed! im zshadowbladez at gmail dot com.... 

Inigo Howlett

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Mar 30, 2012, 9:48:39 PM3/30/12
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Automation engineer? Yes! Build one of these. Massive potential. We'll figure out the informatics and downstream testing.


Julio Donastorg Shaimi Collado

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Apr 1, 2012, 4:32:59 PM4/1/12
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Inigo,
 
Could you please send me the full paper? i dont have a Nature suscription.
 
Thanks,
 
JD

On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 9:48 PM, Inigo Howlett <inigowalk...@gmail.com> wrote:
Automation engineer? Yes! Build one of these. Massive potential. We'll figure out the informatics and downstream testing.

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Nathan McCorkle

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Apr 1, 2012, 5:11:19 PM4/1/12
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Jonathan Cline

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Apr 10, 2012, 11:38:04 PM4/10/12
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On Sunday, March 25, 2012 4:40:35 AM UTC-7, JDon wrote:
  automation engineer with experience mostly on industrial automation

For an engineering viewpoint, one important concept is the use of small quantities of liquids (microliters) in an experiment, due to the incredibly high prices of the active ingredients and the long amounts of time required per iteration.  The experiments themselves boil down to mixing 5 or 6 things together, shaking, and letting sit for many hours or days at specific temperature, to completely simplify the concept.  Many of us experiment with automation and miniaturization with the driving focus being that every experiment, if carried out at a milliliter level, costs three digits US $, and if carried out at a microliter level, costs two digits US $, and with smaller volumes and more sensitive sensors, the amount of time per experiment can also be reduced, or multiple experiments can be run in parallel with slightly tweaked parameters.   That's on the more forward-looking side.  In the typical lab, even simple measurements like reading the temperature, are often not automated or logged for remote viewing, and require some poor intern/undergrad/gopher to physically attend to the experiment (even in the middle of the night).

Also, you can skip all the textbooks & theory if you want and simply buy a bacteria culture kit (high school level) from Carolina, to quickly jump up the learning curve.

http://www.carolina.com/product/living+organisms/prokaryotes/bacteria+kits/bioluminescent+bacterium+kit.do




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