Troub-optimizing… troubleshooting and optimizing are major parts of being a scientist! So here are some tips and thoughts…
If something doesn’t work once, try it again – the problem was likely some silly human error orrandom fluke that won’t repeat and isn’t worth diving into troubleshooting over… yet! Don’t change things up yet, but when possible include more controls* and take samples to check along the way.
If something doesn’t work twice, troubleshoot! And do so thoughtfully! Listen to the data – molecules are trying to talk to you! – different types of “bad” results can tell you different things. Make sure you know what each step and each component does so you know to interpret the results and what you might need or want to change
deep deets on various experiments here: http://bit.ly/labtechniques
If doing a purification, save the places it “shouldn’t be” (pellet, wash flow-through, etc.) just in case…..
*controls:
- negative controls: make sure you don’t see anything if there’s nothing there to see – or else how do you know if what you see in your test sample is really there??
- if you do see something it could indicate things including: one of your reaction components is contaminated, your measuring equipment is broken, etc.
- positive controls: make sure you see what you expect to see if there’s something you know is there to see, or else there’s no hope for being able to see something in your test sample, even if it’s there!
- if you don’t see something, it could indicate things including: one of your reaction components has gone bad, your pH is off, etc.
more about experimental design: http://bit.ly/experiment-ing
more on experimenting: https://bit.ly/experimentorganizing & https://youtu.be/Phk1CWDG0_w
more about experimenting thoughtfully: blog: https://bit.ly/experimenting_thoughtfully ; YouTube: https://youtu.be/R4tihl0BZcc
more random practical lab tips and tricks: https://bit.ly/lab_tricks_page
grad school-y posts: https://bit.ly/gradschoolposts
