76 — Do you know how the first cells were identified? Or who discovered them? What about why they are called cells? Discover the fascinating history in this enlightening Mentors At Your Benchside episode.

Visit the original article for a timeline of cell biology, [1] discover the most commonly used cell lines, [2] and find out why HeLa cells are surrounded by controversy. [3]

Resources:
1. History of Cell Biology. Available at: https://bitesizebio.com/166/history-of-cell-biology/
2. Top 5 of the Most Commonly Used Cell Lines. Available at: https://bitesizebio.com/33473/top-5-of-the-most-commonly-used-cell-lines/
3. The Story Behind Your Cell Culture. Available at: https://bitesizebio.com/7647/the-story-behind-your-cell-culture/

Mentors at Your Benchside: Recent Episodes

BiteSize Bio

76 — Do you know how the first cells were identified? Or who discovered them? What about why they are called cells? Discover the fascinating history in this enlightening Mentors At Your Benchside episode.

74 — Understanding how a technique works make it simpler to troubleshoot when things go wrong in your experiments. Learn how alkaline lysis works in this short and simple step-by-step run-through of the process.

73 — PCR is a fundamental technique all biologists rely on, and, for qPCR, we can construct a standard curve that tells us how good or bad our primers are.

71 — A good histology slide can give you beautiful, revealing microscope images of your precious tissue samples. But what goes into preparing slides for histology?

70 — Sterilization is a critical technique in the biology lab. It keeps your cell lines free from contamination, allows safe disposal of used items, and prevents breakouts of phage!

69 — Figures are a fundamental way to communicate science and are essential components of journal articles.

68 — Controls are fundamental to getting meaningful data. Especially in long, drawn-out experiments like immunofluorescence imaging. In this episode, we explain 5 types of immunofluorescence control, what they tell you, and why they are critical for your experiments.

66 — Are your plasmid yields low? Not sure what is considered a good yield? Need help boosting the amount of plasmid you get from your preps?

64 — Like many experiments, doing a Western blot typically means comparing half a dozen online protocols, failing completely, triple-checking the recipes of your more suspicious buffers, then remaking them and starting again anyway.

37 — How do you measure how good you are as a scientist? How would you compare the impact of two scientists in a field? What if you had to decide which one would get a grant? One method is the h-index.

36 — Don't let an inaccurate pipette ruin your experiments. In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside we’re talking about how to check the accuracy of your pipette, so your results are reliable and repeatable.

35 — A smooth, perfect agar plate will make your microbial experiments a lot easier. Whether you're using LB, M9 or blood agar, tune in to this episode to learn how to pour the perfect plates every time.

34 — Whether you like it or not, you need to know the concentration of your protein samples accurately. Binding constants, enzyme kinetics, and activity assays all need accurately-quantified protein to deliver accurate results.

32 — How do you know if your bacteria culture is ready for your experiment? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside we take a close look at the popular method of OD600 measurements as well as some other techniques you can use to find out if your bacterial culture is still growing.

30 — We have all heard about centrifugation, or more specifically, the horror stories associated with centrifugation going wrong.

29 — Ever wondered why you have to add protease inhibitors to your lysis buffer? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside we’ll tell you all about protease inhibitors, why they’re important and how to use and store them.

27 — SDS-PAGE gels can be run at constant current, constant voltage or constant power. But which is best? Listen to this episode of Mentors at Your Benchside to discover the differences between current, voltage and power, and how they affect how your gels run.

26 — Optimal conditions for DNA ligation reactions are a delicate balance between DNA molecules interacting and the enzymatic ligation reaction.

26 — Cryo-EM is a revolutionary imaging method that lets us see complex biostructures at higher and higher resolutions.

25 — Phenol extraction of DNA is a commonly used method for removing proteins from nucleic acids, for example, to remove proteins from cell lysate during genomic DNA preparation.

24 — How can you best prepare for a postdoc interview? Here we cover 10 questions that are often encountered during the job-hunting process.

23 — Creativity in Science: How a Good Imagination Can Help Your Research

22 — Research often requires you to use dangerous chemicals. From caustic acids and bases to pH solutions and toxic reducing agents, chemical hazards abound in the lab.

21 — Do you know the difference between cell confluency and cell number? Can you measure cell confluency accurately? Cell confluency measurements are essential in cell based experiments. Listen to this episode to learn what cell confluency is and different quantification methods.

20— Have you ever wondered how Laemmli buffer actually works? In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside, we talk through the different components of Laemmli buffer, what they do and why they are essential for your SDS-PAGE experiments.

19 — Listen to this episode to discover what alternative splicing is, the history of how it was discovered, and get key examples of splicing in action.

18 — Why are SDS-PAGE gels run vertically? What would happen if we ran them horizontally? Has anyone ever tried? Discover the answers to these questions and more in this episode of MAYB.

17 — Why do some plasmids give a better protein yield than others? It may have a lot to do with the plasmid copy number. In this episode we talk about what plasmid copy number means, why it is important and how you can manipulate it to get the most out of your experiments.

16 — Is your viva on the horizon? Many people think viva exams are going to be painful. But what if you could make your viva go smoothly and maybe even enjoy it? Listen to our top 10 viva tips to get advice from a viva survivor.

15 — In the last few years, CRISPR-Cas9 has become a popular genome editing tool, but have you ever wondered where it came from? In this episode we explore the history of CRISPR-Cas9, from the first CRISPR discovery in 1987 to current applications in targeted genome and epigenome editing.

14 — Do you know how accurate and precise your measurements are? Imprecise and inaccurate measurements can have a dramatic impact on your results. Listen to get 8 top tips for making your measurements more accurate and precise.

13 — There are now hundreds of different tailored fluorescent proteins to choose from that can improve your experiments in the lab.

12 — As a follow-up to our episode about ethanol precipitation of DNA and RNA, this episode explains the differences between DNA precipitation in ethanol and isopropanol, helping you to figure out which method is the best choice for your experiment.

11 — Fluorescence is undoubtedly one of the most important and useful tools in a biologist’s toolbox. But do you actually know how fluorescence works?

10 — As you probably know, there are different types of ethanol found in biology labs. It's a versatile solvent used in dozens of experiments and procedures, including disinfection, DNA precipitation, and tissue dehydration.

9 — One of the most commonly used cell lines in molecular biology labs is the Human Embryonic Kidney HEK293 cell line.

8 — You probably have or will use SDS-PAGE at some point to separate proteins, but do you really understand how this technique works? Knowing how SDS-PAGE works means you can tweak and troubleshoot your technique as well as impress your supervisor and lab mates.

7 — In this episode, we cover how jellyfish were able to have a huge impact on biology through the discovery and development of GFP.

6 — Ethanol precipitation is a commonly used technique for concentrating and de-salting nucleic acid preparations in an aqueous solution.

5 — Have you ever chilled beer on dry ice from the lab? Does your wardrobe consist mainly of free T-shirts from companies at conferences? Have you ever wondered what the distilled water in the lab tastes like?

4 — PCR is a useful lab technique used to copy, sequence or quantify DNA. If you're new to PCR, this episode is for you. We cover the five things you need to get started with PCR and explain how to run a polymerase chain reaction.

3 — In this episode of Mentors At Your Benchside, listen to a short history of cryo-electron microscopy—the Nobel Prize-winning technique revolutionizing molecular and structural biology.

1 — Is it worth doing a PhD? This is a question that probably plagues every research student at some point in their career.