Science Forums: Genecks - Viewing Profile - Science Forums

So, I've got some clothes, you know.. underwear, shirts, blue jeans... and I'm thinking about autoclaving them. There really isn't a laundromat near by, and I don't get paid for about 6 more days.

They kind of of smell, but I figure that's just some organic chemical left over. I've read about it before, but I can't recall the molecule's name. I figure if I autoclave the stuff, then the clothes will be sterilized. I'm not sure what kind of result autoclaving would have on the fabric, but I'm trying to save some money.

So, if I were to autoclave some black shirts and a couple of pairs of blue jeans, even some socks and underwear, do you think that there would be considerable damage to my clothes? It would be using steam, pressure, and heat to clean them.

I've read that when autoclaving clothes, they should be put in a bag. I've also read that a bag isn't always necessary. I don't think there will be a problem, because I'll just have them in an autoclave basket. I could wet them down first and maybe autoclave the clothes as though I'm autoclaving a liquid. I'm not sure.

Thoughts? Ideas? lol

So, I'm starting to notice that EDTA is really annoying to make a solution from. I would like to make a 0.5M stock solution of EDTA, but all I have is EDTA disodium salt. I'm reading that's basically EDTA but more readily soluble. Another thing I keep reading is that I'll have to adjust the pH of the EDTA disodium salt solution in order to make the molecules more soluble, because I keep getting precipitates at the moment. I'm not sure if I can avoid changing the pH or not. If I have to change the pH, then 7.4 would probably be good and in line with the other Tris-HCl 7.4 pH solution I've made.

Just wondering...

I've been reading about doing immunoprecipitaiton. My first experiment failed really bad, not sure why. Anyway, I've been told I should have been doing BCA method quantification in order to determine the protein concentration of how much protein I have in a volume of solution. Well, I've been told that after taking tissue and lysing, I should do BCA. Afterward, do IP, but then don't BCA quantify and just move onto a western blot. Uh, why would I not want to know the protein concentration of the protein that I've immunoprecipitated out? Wouldn't that be what is relevant for observing what amount I've used in the western blot analysis?

I've recently been assigned the task of making a decent antibody for amyloid precursor protein (and perhaps something else, too). As I have been reading as of late, there is considerable demand for decent antibodies, as people don't tend to like what comes from industry.

First off, why?

Does industry not put enough effort into making antibodies, such as generating one generation of a mouse population to produce antibodies, thus the search for better antibodies beyond that one generation does not occur? Industry would be the social structure with enough money to improve on design rather than independent academic institutions, right?

Is it that industry isn't really looking for better antibodies?

The individual I'm working for at the moment doesn't seem to like the current quality of antibody on the market and being used for our research, so I've been assigned to make antibodies.

As of late, I've been reading the book Making and Using Antibodies: A Practical Handbook.

It seems like there are two reasonable ways to make antibodies: Mutation/radiation/conjure-code OR to inject animals with the immunogen and have the animals keep producing antibodies.

It seems to me that animals that could live a long time in order to produce antibodies might be the best bet in terms of finding a better antibody with binding affinity. Am I right on this?

Also, I suspect if a person was a super scientist with an insane knowledge of biophysics, chemistry, and protein knowledge, a person could just design a better antibody from code... but I suspect that would mean knowing the protein being research, and the protein being research in this case is ... the structure is not completely known...

So, why do scientists think most antibodies are poor? Are they? Why?