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We've switched vendors (after 6 years) for every micropipette type we use in the lab because of sudden QC issues so there's definitely fun cost cutting going on in plastic land. Tips no longer snugly fit on the pipettor after autoclaving etc, evidence of the plastic being much less rigid than before etc etc the tips started to fail in a couple of different ways once they went into the autoclave. We had old lot numbers side by side in the same autoclave, same cycle that performed fine so we were confident it was a materials issue.
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Jun 23, 2023 13:43
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mycomancy posted:Washing pipette tips is the maddest loving thing I've heard about in a while. If any of the hospital labs I worked in ever suggested this I would say no and begin polishing up the CV. That's like "no more free coffee" levels of  Were you washing your gloves with methanol and hanging them on a clothesline, too?
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Jun 23, 2023 13:51
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Had a similar experience with electrocuvettes. Ran out of an old batch of VWR cuvettes, opened a new bag then everything started failing either with short time constants or at 6 ms, indicating an open circuit. Switched to Bulldog Bio cuvettes and everything started working again.
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Jun 23, 2023 14:16
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Johnny Truant posted:If any of the hospital labs I worked in ever suggested this I would say no and begin polishing up the CV. That's like "no more free coffee" levels of Horrible image in my head of de-agaring, washing, and UV sterilizing polystyrene petri dishes
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Jun 23, 2023 14:17
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Did they validate the volume precision after cleaning? Thats bonkers. Thats stupid.
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Jun 23, 2023 14:17
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Also what on earth requires precision at 20 uL that a non-adjustable pipette can't deliver? Are you counting individual heme molecules in blood?
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Jun 23, 2023 14:19
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mycomancy posted:
We've had a temp with a PhD in food engineering and ostensibly 6 years experience, as a backfill for my teammate on mat leave, since last fall. I say ostensibly because I'm fairly certain they've fabricated the work experience - well, they've had the jobs, they've just been useless and made up accomplishments on their resume wholesale by googling. Among an entire poo poo show of other things. Their contract is over this month and the entire team is counting down the days. Apparently this was the only person my boss could get and had hoped it would turn out okay. mycomancy posted:Washing pipette tips is the maddest loving thing I've heard about in a while. I used to work at the USDA about a decade ago in an ag lab, we washed all pipette tips. There was absolutely no budget to actually dispose of them and use them as intended. I still think about this.
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Jun 23, 2023 14:20
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We've only washed tips with very expensive tips we had to buy to handle >150C concentrated acids. They're like $30/tip and it did not matter if we had any trace carry over.
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Jun 23, 2023 15:05
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mycomancy posted:Washing pipette tips is the maddest loving thing I've heard about in a while. I had a couple of screening projects where I had to repeatedly pipette variants of the whole S.cerevisiae deletion collection. I think that was 52 x 96 well plates per collection. I washed tips then because otherwise it would be like 500 boxes worth of tips a week and that was simply not appreciated by the lab manager. Luckily the wash procedure was just three different trays of water and autoclaving.
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Jun 23, 2023 15:35
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mycomancy posted:Also what on earth requires precision at 20 μL that a non-adjustable pipette can't deliver? Are you counting individual heme molecules in blood? Immunosuppressant monitoring by mass spec; you add 150 μL of internal standard and 50 μL Zinc Sulfate to dilute and shoot. If you're imprecise, the patient's transplant may fail. RadioPassive posted:Did they validate the volume precision after cleaning? Yes actually, and because the 20 μL tips were causing issues (blood leaking past the positive displacement plunger in some cases), they switched to 50 μL tips out of caution. EQA performance and QC are running fine Assuming they legitimately did put the second wash water through the Mass Spec and didn't find levels of analyte over the LoD, isn't that sufficient evidence to prove there's no carryover able to affect assay results? I believe carryover studies were also run (high-concentration samples before analyte-free matrix). This country's healthcare system is held together by spit and prayer. Rinsing the positive displacement tips makes a massive difference for budget (and saves plastic waste). Lunar Suite fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Jun 23, 2023 |
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Jun 23, 2023 15:36
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That Works posted:We've switched vendors (after 6 years) for every micropipette type we use in the lab because of sudden QC issues so there's definitely fun cost cutting going on in plastic land. Tips no longer snugly fit on the pipettor after autoclaving etc, evidence of the plastic being much less rigid than before etc etc the tips started to fail in a couple of different ways once they went into the autoclave. We had old lot numbers side by side in the same autoclave, same cycle that performed fine so we were confident it was a materials issue. Less rigid is exactly the issue we just ran into. The sales rep said he suspected his competitors would have similar stuff going on. I hoped he was just blowing smoke... We also started reusing the positive displacement tips. Not for cost, but backordered for like 6 months. I found a few in eBay to bridge the gap Epitope fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Jun 23, 2023 |
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Jun 23, 2023 16:19
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Im just floored that test tubes, MilliQ, methanol, MS time, and a validation of the process were somehow cheaper than buying fresh tips.
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Jun 23, 2023 16:48
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RadioPassive posted:Im just floored that test tubes, MilliQ, methanol, MS time, and a validation of the process were somehow cheaper than buying fresh tips. Welcome to working in the NHS! If it makes you feel any better, it also cuts down on plastic waste... probably (the test tubes are also plastic).
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Jun 26, 2023 09:20
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mycomancy posted:Washing pipette tips is the maddest loving thing I've heard about in a while. Theres a pretty slick company called Grenova which has some excellent data for their tip washing product, but the problem is to get a decent ROI you need to have an FTE or automate past a certain scale. For diagnostic PCR work you can squeeze Hamilton tips to 40x before they start to have issues, usually due to some part of the tip failing. Bastard Tetris fucked around with this message at 10:47 on Jun 26, 2023 |
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Jun 26, 2023 10:44
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Hello, I'm a 24 year old who graduated 2 years ago with a BS in Biology from a highly regarded public university (3.9 GPA for what it's worth) currently working in a quality control lab for a pharmaceutical company. The pay isn't great and I really hate the environment, but I've had a lot of trouble in my job search over the last 8 months. I really love lab work (Microbiology in particular) so I was hoping people would have advice for me here. I'm not looking for anything too specific, as long as I can support myself financially and expand my lab skills. Covid very much hosed me over in terms of networking and bench experience in college (for example, I've only performed 1 Western Blot, and I've never performed DNA extraction, PCR, etc. and I only have 1 iffy reference from 4 years of school) but professionally I have experience with a decent amount of microbial techniques. I'm also a bit constrained as I need a baseline salary (~$55k) I need to maintain in order to support myself and family members. Since I doubt I can make this kind of money without working full-time, the prospect of going back to school is daunting, but I don't know where else I can develop my lab skills to further my career. Paying for school is another concern as I am not in a position to assume a ton of debt. So, any advice on where I can look to further my prospects? Appreciate any and all input.
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Jun 27, 2023 00:18
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DildenAnders posted:Hello, I'm a 24 year old who graduated Only place I know of that will pay $50k for a guy with two years real life experience to work in a lab full time is one of the national laboratories.
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Jun 27, 2023 01:15
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Where are you located and what jobs have you been applying to?
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Jun 27, 2023 01:34
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RadioPassive posted:Where are you located and what jobs have you been applying to? I'm located in NY, and I've been applying to a variety of lab jobs (microbiologist in a wastewater plant, lab microbiologist for DoH, and R&D for a phage therapy, research assistant at a national lab are the ones I can remember) the vast majority of jobs I am interested in require ASCP certification and a lab tech license, neither of which I possess.
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Jun 27, 2023 01:50
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Whistling while skipping to the gun storequote:As a result of the consistent alarm and to prevent anyone from unplugging the freezer, a notice was placed on its door saying: "THIS FREEZER IS BEEPING AS IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE OR UNPLUG IT. NO CLEANING REQUIRED IN THIS AREA. YOU CAN PRESS THE ALARM/TEST MUTE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MUTE THE SOUND."
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Jun 27, 2023 02:05
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Jun 27, 2023 02:16
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mycomancy posted:Only place I know of that will pay $50k for a guy with two years real life experience to work in a lab full time is one of the national laboratories. Or anywhere in CA, though I guess that does not help here. Pain of Mind fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jun 27, 2023 |
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Jun 27, 2023 04:46
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You are receiving this broadcast as a dream...We are transmitting from the year one nine... nine nine ...You are receiving this broadcast in order t
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Guess they didn't have remote temperature monitoring. The lab in which I did my PhD and the hospital I trained in all had external third-party sensors capable of texting/calling supervisors and maintenance staff if the temperature rose. Some even had a  . Is that not a thing in the US?
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Jun 27, 2023 09:24
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DildenAnders posted:I'm located in NY, and I've been applying to a variety of lab jobs (microbiologist in a wastewater plant, lab microbiologist for DoH, and R&D for a phage therapy, research assistant at a national lab are the ones I can remember) the vast majority of jobs I am interested in require ASCP certification and a lab tech license, neither of which I possess. If you can tolerate it Curia in albany is a a good stepping stone job to eventually move to Regeneron
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Jun 27, 2023 12:37
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Lunar Suite posted:Guess they didn't have remote temperature monitoring. The lab in which I did my PhD and the hospital I trained in all had external third-party sensors capable of texting/calling supervisors and maintenance staff if the temperature rose. Some even had a My institute made me pay for my own remote stuff and refused to install any nearby telephone or LAN ports to where the freezers were. We had to scream for months to even get the freezers on the generator backup circuit which should have been like.... what the loving backup power system was even for. Then when someone physically broke into our freezer room in the middle of the night and put all of their now room temp freezer contents into the bottom half of my freezer (causing it to overheat and also fail) our research dean flatly refused a request to buy a backup -80C for the entire building/college/department and said "if its that important you can all pass the hat". But hey they got their office renovated for that same year which cost a whole hell of a lot more than a -80C would.
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Jun 27, 2023 12:38
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DildenAnders posted:Job stuff. NYC or somewhere else in the state? One option would be to look for early-ish stage biologics or CGT companies nearby. You usually end up getting to wear a lot of hats but obviously its a little crazier and theres some risk. This may not apply to you since you mentioned you like the lab work but you could always look at scientific software vendors. Ive been selling software to pharma companies for almost 15 years and almost any job at a place like Benchling, LabVantage, LabWare, IDBS, etc. is going to pay probably $80k-$120k. One of the biggest challenges at places like that is finding people who are from industry, you could probably get a business analyst role somewhere pretty easily. It would most likely be remote work with some travel to customers and into the office as needed.
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Jun 27, 2023 12:51
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I managed freezers in my previous 3 lab jobs and there's so, so much that was hosed up in that news article, it's honestly impressive.
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Jun 27, 2023 12:52
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Lyon posted:almost any job at a place like Benchling, LabVantage, LabWare, IDBS, etc. is going to pay probably $80k-$120k. lol. We are so loving doomed as a country
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Jun 27, 2023 13:02
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Lyon posted:NYC or somewhere else in the state? One option would be to look for early-ish stage biologics or CGT companies nearby. You usually end up getting to wear a lot of hats but obviously its a little crazier and theres some risk. Suddenly my exit strategy from the lab might have changed
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Jun 27, 2023 14:03
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BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:lol. We are so loving doomed as a country It's dire, living in Boston or NYC on anything less than $100k is poverty
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Jun 27, 2023 14:10
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That Works posted:Then when someone physically broke into our freezer room in the middle of the night and put all of their now room temp freezer contents into the bottom half of my freezer (causing it to overheat and also fail) our research dean flatly refused a request to buy a backup -80C for the entire building/college/department and said "if its that important you can all pass the hat". But hey they got their office renovated for that same year which cost a whole hell of a lot more than a -80C would. Why did they break into your freezer? What were they even expecting to find in there?
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Jun 27, 2023 14:53
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CuddleCryptid posted:Why did they break into your freezer? What were they even expecting to find in there? I read it as that the burglar probably had their own freezer fail and broke into That Works freezer to try and save their own thawed samples. Thereby causing the failure of that -80 too.
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Jun 27, 2023 15:13
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Whooping Crabs posted:It's dire, living in Boston or NYC on anything less than $100k is poverty and yet, we pay the vast majority of the people doing basic science in those locations (and the Bay Area) under $65k... obviously the guys selling lab software should be making good wages, no judgement there. it's sad that those wages are double NIH scale for post-docs. I know there's a huge number of people willing to debase themselves in the pursuit of science so the well of talent is deep, but I feel like we must be approaching a collapse
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Jun 27, 2023 15:23
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BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:and yet, we pay the vast majority of the people doing basic science in those locations (and the Bay Area) under $65k... obviously the guys selling lab software should be making good wages, no judgement there. it's sad that those wages are double NIH scale for post-docs. just wait til you hear what the financial consulting dicks are making
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Jun 27, 2023 15:34
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Most fields graduate a sufficiently high number of PhDs that not all, or perhaps not even the majority, will end up gainfully employed at six figure wages. This has been the case for decades. Postdocs have been paid low wages for lots of well known positions forever. Thats not the system breaking down, thats how things have worked for like 30+ years. Literally nothing new here.
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Jun 27, 2023 15:40
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BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:and yet, we pay the vast majority of the people doing basic science in those locations (and the Bay Area) under $65k... obviously the guys selling lab software should be making good wages, no judgement there. it's sad that those wages are double NIH scale for post-docs. I cannot speak for other locations, but the vast majority of people in biotech in the bay area make quite a bit more than 65k. I made that like 15 years ago with a few years of experience and no graduate degree. I really don't know what the range is, but I would assume most people with 10+ years of experience and no graduate degree are clearing 100k, while entry level PhDs are probably also clearing 100k. This is for pharma/biotech research, not manufacturing or academic labs or whatever. Of course, low income for a family of 4 is at 120k or something like that now. Pain of Mind fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Jun 27, 2023 |
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Jun 27, 2023 15:47
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Lyon posted:NYC or somewhere else in the state? One option would be to look for early-ish stage biologics or CGT companies nearby. You usually end up getting to wear a lot of hats but obviously its a little crazier and theres some risk. That is actually good to know if I get up fed up with the current place. Although I would probably stay away from Benchling. I saw a number of layoffs from them earlier this year and as far as I know they are still on VC money. Speaking as an ELN buyer, they also have a super aggressive marketing approach and I didnt like how they siloed data ( but our data is super non standardised and basically consists of Excel plus weird data formats). Their molecular cloning module is supercool though. We finally ended up with one of the alternatives above, but I havent dared to tell my contact the recommendation came from here 
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Jun 27, 2023 15:48
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pmchem posted:Most fields graduate a sufficiently high number of PhDs that not all, or perhaps not even the majority, will end up gainfully employed at six figure wages. This has been the case for decades. Postdocs have been paid low wages for lots of well known positions forever. This is correct. I started my postdoc in Madison making NIH scale, which was $30k. Scientific labor organization is highly similar to that of drug cartels, just with less murder and more humiliation. We should be structured like the trade professions are, but then that might fix the massive class problem in science and we can't have smart, talented people recognizing that they're class bound. That could be bad!
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Jun 27, 2023 15:49
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What is a postdoc if not a highly educated intern with the pay scale to match? PhDs can land six figure jobs pretty easily but that is also helped by the fact that they can go into business roles like sales and customer support with a large paycheck fairly well. At least in the large chemical companies I have worked in they were packed to the gills with PhDs in roles that had little to do it with their actual education. You functionally could not be in middle management without a Dr. in front of your name. The B.S/M.S. did the lab work while the PhDs called on customers, with only a few select PhDs in R&D roles that did actual research and design. I remember once having a manager who would proudly say that he has neither knowledge nor experience with the material we were handling and did not want to learn. He was a PhD but it was utterly transparent that he was a ladder climbing scumbag, for that and other reasons. CuddleCryptid fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Jun 27, 2023 |
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Jun 27, 2023 15:53
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CuddleCryptid posted:What is a postdoc if not a highly educated intern with the pay scale to match? Unfortunately this isn't true for Bio, and it's definitely not true for postbaccs.
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Jun 27, 2023 15:57
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DildenAnders posted:I'm located in NY, and I've been applying to a variety of lab jobs (microbiologist in a wastewater plant, lab microbiologist for DoH, and R&D for a phage therapy, research assistant at a national lab are the ones I can remember) the vast majority of jobs I am interested in require ASCP certification and a lab tech license, neither of which I possess. idk how things are in NY but here in Boston I get recruiter emails and phonecalls several times a week about biotech jobs. Theres a monthly networking event here called Biotech Tuesday thats like cocktail hour for biotech bros in the city. I did QC analytical chemistry for big pharma for a while, working in GMP was great for my resume.
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Jun 27, 2023 15:58
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