Amsterdam... is stuck in my head

Shapiro and I were in the magnificent city of Amsterdam last weekend. The sights, the sounds, the smells! Nothing like it in the world everybody. Of all things, it was the bicycle culture that struck me most. They are more dangerous than cars because they won't stop if you get in their way. They come from nowhere too, I can't tell you how many times Alex saved my life when crossing the street. Though, the fun and practicality has inspired me to buy a used bike or build my own when I get back to Emory. No more parking passes or Cliff shuttles, I'm gonna be free riding.

The oocyctes haven't been any better than before. I'm hoping for a miracle this week because there is absolutely no reason for their lack of RNA expression. In the meantime though I've made agarose-cushioned electrodes. Electrodes are what we stick in to the oocytes to inject current. However, oocytes are relatively large for electrophys experiments, so they need more current injected in a faster period of time. To do this we make the electrode hole bigger, but that results in the liquid leaking from the electrode. The solution is sticking a bit of 1% agarose gel in the tip to block liquid flow, but allow current and ion flow. An ingenious method in one of the oocyte papers that's out there. Below is a visual of the kind of setup I'm using.

Prague this weekend, Atlanta the next. There's this Undergraduate Research Matching Grant program at Emory that my PI just applied to. They pay you dollar for dollar what your lab gives you (if anything), a great deal. I can send you the email I got if you're interested. The deadline for Fall 2010 funding was Aug 1st, but maybe you can see if the deadline was extended and there are still awards for the spring.

Amsterdam - Peter Bjorn & John