AsianScientist (Mar. 17, 2017) – If you’ve been paying attention to the news in Singapore lately, you probably would have heard the word ‘budget’ mentioned several times over the past month. Whether at the national or the personal level, budgeting is a good idea as it allows one to partition financial resources and position them strategically for a rainy day.
I’ve done some budgeting for grant proposals during my time as a PhD student, so I thought I’d put together a list of ten things I’d budget for in a perfect world where research funding wasn’t so hard to come by.
1. Pre-racked pipette tips
Bring this up at a budget meeting and some principal investigators might counter with “Don’t you lab rats enjoy vying for the coveted title of Fastest Tip Filler Of The Month?” Well, it’s fun for a while, but when there’s that ultra experienced project officer who always hogs the title, things get boring quite quickly. In all seriousness, though, being able to just unwrap a pack of sterile, pre-racked pipette tips for use would be so satisfying compared with having to refill and autoclave the loose ones.
2. Pre-cast SDS-PAGE gels
Just like pre-racked pipette tips, pre-cast SDS-PAGE gels would be a joy to have around the lab. Unless, of course, you prefer the cheap thrill of racing against time to pour your gel solutions between the glass plates after having added TEMED to them. Then there’s the issue of imperfectly formed wells that could affect the aesthetics of the protein bands at the end of the western blot. All these troubles go away with precast SDS-PAGE gels—just lock and load (your protein sample).
3. Ready-made buffers
I think any scientist can relate to frustration of searching high and low for the various salts and detergents required for the myriad buffer solutions used in the lab. Add to that the mind-numbing process of calibrating the pH meter (because, you know, paranoia) and titrating the buffer solution with acid or alkali to the right pH, and you’ll really appreciate the value of ready-made buffer solutions. This stuff is actually sold by many vendors, either in liquid or capsule form, and could really buffer against time wastage.
4. Robotic liquid handler
qPCR and ELISA are probably the most cringe-inducing acronyms in a molecular biology lab. Just thinking about the pipetting involved is enough to give you psychosomatic cramps in your uniquely evolved opposable thumbs. For these tedious and repetitive techniques that require a tremendous amount of mental focus while dispensing reagents, a multi-channel pipette provides some relief, but if you’re asking for funds, you might as well budget in a robotic liquid handler that automates the entire process for you.
5. Automated tissue processor
Feeling tired after a long session of harvesting organ samples from your favorite animal model? If your goal is to obtain a formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue block ideal for sectioning and histological analysis, you’re far from done. Not only do you have to fix your tissue samples, but also dehydrate them by immersing them in increasing concentrations of ethanol, then a clearing agent, and finally, paraffin wax. This whole process can take up to half a day, so if you do FFPE sample preparations often enough, you’ll definitely want to budget for an automated tissue processor.
