Re: [DIYbio] Re: Tips for the new guy, so he can avoid posting stupid questions.

Just a plug for one of our fellow DIYBIO folks, Mac Cowell sells super affordable pipettors.  They should be worth a shot- they are very competitively priced: super affordable pipettors.  Your other best bet is to get a set of gilsons (kind of the mo-bio standard) off ebay.

--Avery

On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 11:49 PM, Koeng <koeng101@gmail.com> wrote:

I was in the same boat as you once, except until recently I haven't discovered DIYbio so all I had to guide me is the experiment I wanted to complete and a computer to sit hours upon hours infront. I don't have a firm understanding of most complex biology/biochemistry, I haven't even passed high school! Lab technique is what I do know :). But I just set a goal on something cool and began collecting things.

My recommendation- Just get a goal and start. Start getting decent equipment as the experiment needs. I got my plasmids from Carolina, cheap and easy, even though I only got pGreen and pVIB. When I started transformations I didn't even have a water bath, or an incubator, or pipettes. I didn't even have a metal inoculating loop! But to make transformations easier, I started to get these things. Then it just started piling up and I got into viruses, then where I am now, plasmids. Also, get GOOD, let me repeat this GOOD LB agar. Make your own! Do anything and avoid buying it from p212121 (They have great regents, just check out GoldBio first). Mine sucks and that, strangely, is the biggest thing holding me back from most my experiments. GET GOOD AGAR PLATES

Some software to get: ApE and SnapGene. ApE is great for making DNA because it is almost like a text editor, and snapgene is just so easy! I highly recommend the free trial when you start your first major project.

Mo bio: This is where you can make a living getting samples. For that reason I always buy from them because I get to try their products first. This can supply you for quite a while.

And finally I will try to keep up about plant transformation. I want to try it too :)
-Koeng

On Sunday, January 27, 2013 6:42:38 PM UTC-8, Avery Ashley wrote:

Hey guys, I'm relatively new to this. I'm only in my second year at college (community college at that), but I have a passion for biology, lots of free time and a little money free to spend on a good hobby.

I've never worked in a real lab, so there's a lot of techniques I need to learn and I don't want to be constantly posting here about them and wasting your time. 

I've gotten a makeshift incubator and centrifuge, and a legit thermocycler and electrophoresis chamber but I really don't know how to use any of it very well.

Basically, I have everything I need I just need to learn how to use it properly.

I want to work mostly  on plants, and my goal is to be able to insert genes in them by the end of summer (not to accomplish anything really, just be able to do it).

Where do i start?

I have a relatively firm understanding of basic biology and biochemistry, I'm only looking for a place to learn lab technique.

And I'm pretty much stuck on my computer.

Thanks for the help, you guys are one of the most understanding and helpful community's I've ever encountered on the internet, and I'm proud to be a part of all this.

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