sometimes I am such a smartypants.

I am in a ridiculous lab class this semester. I showed up on the first day of class, wide-eyed and eager to learn, but left feeling like someone had just dunked me in a tank of ice cold water.

This is how the class went:

Fancy Professor: Hello, students. In the lab there is a freezer. In the freezer is a box with your name on it. In the box is a sample of DNA. On our class website you will find a list of what you need to do with that sample of DNA, including PCR, nanodrop readings, cloning and sequencing. Make sure you work alone with no help from other classmates. See you at the end of the semester when you turn in your lab notebooks!

Me: I think I just wet my pants from fear.

It took some serious courage for me to step into that lab knowing basically nothing about what I was supposed to do. I have studied all these techniques and procedures in other classes so I know how they work, but I have had no experience actually doing them. But with the tips online, I was able to complete the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), clone and amplify my DNA sample, and complete the nanodrop readings on my very first try! Most of my other classmates took at least two, sometimes 4-5 tries to get it right, but I did it all right on my first try. I basically spent my entire day today in the lab, but I really feel so proud of myself. And I really liked it! I think I could work in a lab someday...

Just in case you were wondering what PCR is, it's basically the best thing that's happened to science in the past 50 years. Seriously. It's a way to clone a sequence of DNA that you need to work on so that you have millions of copies of it, instead of just one teeny tiny copy. It's used for everything from crime scene DNA analysis (CSI, anyone?) to discovering specific gene function. Here's a great video that us science geeks just love haha.