This episode teaches that innovation is born at the intersection of curiosity and persistence. Dr. Gudrun Stengel, co-founder and CEO of Alida Biosciences, reveals how her startup is transforming the landscape of RNA research through a novel technology called proximity barcoding. Dr. Stengel’s story exemplifies the power of entrepreneurial spirit in driving scientific discovery, offering a glimpse into how one idea can reshape an entire field.

At Alida Biosciences, Dr. Stengel and her team are pioneering new tools for detecting RNA modifications, a largely unexplored realm of epigenetics. Using their proximity barcoding platform, researchers can read multiple RNA modifications simultaneously, uncovering potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. This technology bridges a critical gap in multiomics, allowing scientists to dive deeper into how epigenetic changes influence gene expression and cellular behavior.

Beyond the lab, Dr. Stengel shares her experience as a first-time founder, balancing scientific rigor with startup life. From managing a team to fundraising, her journey underscores the importance of resilience, optimism, and maintaining a long-term vision. She also offers valuable advice for budding scientists, encouraging them to embrace challenges and remain persistent in the face of setbacks.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Sustainability in the lab isn't just a trend—it's a responsibility. In this quick but powerful Mol Bio Minutes episode, sustainability expert Sune Lund Sporring shares actionable tips to reduce energy use, manage lab waste, and transition to greener materials like Thermo Fisher’s Sustain Series bio-based plastics.

Discover the difference between bio-based and biodegradable, why second-generation feedstocks are a game-changer, and how to make low-impact changes without compromising performance. Learn how small shifts—like using aluminum beads instead of water in a bath or switching to carbon-reduced plastics—can significantly cut your lab’s carbon footprint. And remember: if greener options aren’t available, your demand can help shape the market.

Helpful resource links mentioned in this episode:

• My Green Lab – Facts and resources about lab sustainability
• Energy use of fume hoods – Energy use and savings ideas for fume hoods
• Greener by Design – Thermo Fisher’s approach to green solutions
• Lab Armor™ Beads – A sustainable option to replace water in water baths
• Instrument trade up program – trade in your equipment to be green and give it a second life
• Lab plastic waste – Stats about plastic waste in labs
• Doing something about it – Thermo Fisher’s lower carbon plastics solution
• Sustain Series PCR plastics – Lower carbon footprint, without workflow interruption
• Reasons to believe – Fact sheet about Sustain Series PCR plastics

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Join us for an insightful conversation with Dr. Nadav Ahituv, a leader in human genetics and gene regulation at UCSF. He shares his personal journey from scoliosis patient to genetic researcher, exploring the mysteries of non-coding DNA, massively parallel reporter assays, and CRISPR-based therapeutic innovations.

We dive into his lab’s diverse projects, from decoding bat wing development and diet adaptation to tackling complex diseases like scoliosis and cancer through gene modulation. Learn how cloning is used alongside technologies like AI, genome-wide sequencing, and CRISPR to revolutionize our understanding of regulatory elements and shape the future of precision medicine.

Plus, discover how a surprising approach—using modified fat cells—could be a game-changer in cancer therapy. This episode is a must-listen for anyone fascinated by the intersection of genetics, technology, and evolution.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

With prior Mol Bio Minutes episodes covering DNA form migration and staining considerations for nucleic acid gel electrophoresis, we tie it all together with this great set of overall tips, tricks and resources for the topic.

Anyone that’s ever run a gel has undoubtedly produced gels with smeared, faint or poorly separated bands. What causes these and how can you avoid them? Well, Aistė Polikaitytė, Scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific is here to cover the likely causes and troubleshooting tips to help avoid the most common gel issues. She touches on how much sample to load, the importance of reagent selection, gel preparation, separation conditions, staining, as well as purification and contamination considerations.

Helpful resource links mentioned in this episode:

• Selection guide for electrophoresis dyes and buffers
• Learn how using precast E-Gel agarose gel can help avoid common issues
• A helpful troubleshooting guide for nucleic acid gel electrophoresis
• View an on-demand webinar covering these topics in more detail

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

It could be argued that biology has always boiled down to chemistry, and that chemistry has always boiled down to physics. However, not many would deny that the fields of biology and chemistry are overlapping more than ever, with both leveraging computing methods, also more than ever.

This conversation with Dr. Ramesh Jha, Technical Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), crosses biology, chemistry, and computing methods. The work of his biome team at LANL uses computational tools to inform the design of enzymes that are produced via PCR-based cloning and then expressed in microbes. They use fluorescent gene circuits in these microbes, along with flow cytometry, to screen these large libraries for advantageous gain-of-function variants. When they find an interesting mutation, they isolate it, sequence it, and produce and evaluate those biocatalytic enzymes for bioremediation, biomanufacturing, and other important applications.

Ramesh makes this complex and interdisciplinary science approachable and gives hope to how it could help address problems of “forever chemicals” and other environmental and manufacturing challenges. Join us for this interesting and inspiring conversation.

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

You can run the perfect agarose gel to separate your nucleic acid fragments but if you don’t stain and image the gel properly, it’s all for not.

In this second installment of Mol Bio Minutes we take a look at the staining considerations for nucleic acid gel electrophoresis with Paulius Palaima, Product Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific. He covers the range of stains and staining approaches available while calling out pros, cons and considerations for each. How these recommendations change, depending on your sample, is also covered in this approachable but informative episode.

Helpful resource links mentioned in this episode:

• A helpful DNA stain selection guide
• RNA stain options and details
• Effects of dyes on gel electrophoresis properties

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Topics and terms such as biosafety, biosecurity, containment, and contamination are things most of us have heard of and think about at some level, but with the pace of molecular biology moving faster than ever, these are topics with implications that are reaching farther than ever. We’re joined by Dr. Ryan Burnette and Dr. Lauren Richardson from Merrick and company for this episode, and they’re ace communicators that help walk us through the expanding horizon and implications of these topics.

This conversation starts on the basic topics, like what biocontainment is and what’s needed for each of the four levels of biosafety labs, but it quickly moves beyond, shining a light on the security and containment needs for more than just the organisms. We hear about how the data and methods used to do modern molecular biology, as well as the data generated in the experiments, are equally precious and in need of protection and containment. With public health and safety on the line, and an acknowledgement that the pace of science moves faster than that of policy, we get into the idea of who really owns responsibility for protecting data. Your role might be more important than you know, so don’t miss this conversation that will make you pause and think!

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Agarose gel electrophoresis is a staple method in almost all biology and biochemistry lab where separation and analysis of nucleic acids is needed. In this Mol Bio Minutes mini episode Augustė Užuotaitė, Scientist III at Thermo Fisher Scientific, covers the basics of electrophoresis with a spotlight on how different forms of DNA migrate differently in agarose gel electrophoresis.

In less than 10 quick minutes, you’ll learn about the many factors that affect DNA migration rate. Augustė reviews how DNA size, sequence, and conformation all affect migration rate, and she gives some beautifully simple examples to help it all make sense.

Helpful resource links mentioned in this episode:

• Nucleic acid gel electrophoresis – summarized in 5 easy steps
• Five important considerations for the nucleic acid gel electrophoresis

Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you’re hearing we hope you’ll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. 

Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.