PhilC

Hey everyone, I am an undergrad researcher that has been tasked with making new plasmid standards for qPCR on several different nitrogen fixing genes so i need to track down the exact sizes of each gene so i can verify the correct gene was amplified in the preliminary PCR reactions. I thought this would be a cakewalk but it turns out it is not. I'm finding that alot of primers test for genes by amplifying only a small portion of a conserved region of the gene and not the entire gene itself, so when i search for them i come up with several different sizes depending on what primers are being used. The genes im working with are nitrogen fixing genes and a few others: nifH, nosZ, nirK, nirS, bacterial 16s, fungal 28s, Bacterial amoA, and Archaeal amoA. All i have available are the primer sequences for all the genes of interest. It seems like with those sequences i would be able to enter them into some database and get the information i need, but i am very unfamiliar with the various databases available for this sort of thing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, Phil Colgan

Thank you for the wisdom guys, i may just be trying to plan ahead farther than is practical for where im at. I was thinking if there is one area that ends up being relied upon more than the others, i would go for the associates in that area, as a way to get a leg up for whats ahead. But, it makes sense to jump into the basics and then adjust which associates i go for once i get a better grasp on them all. That lack of a clear trajectory is the scary part, especially for someone like me who is obsessive about planning ahead. In the last post i mentioned how i read that AAS degrees shouldnt be taken if i plan to transfer to a graduate school, i meant to say transfer to a university, where i'd get a bachelors and so forth. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks again guys!

Hello, i want to start college classes soon, but i dont feel that i have enough insight on the subjects im interested in to make an informed decision about the courses i should be going after. My interests are in genetics, evolution, and molecular biology. Someday, i'd like to be doing research in these areas to help make progress towards treatments for genetic disorders and other diseases. I'm planning on going to a graduate school once i have a better bearing on what exactly i want to be doing, but for now i am looking at associate degrees given at my community college, but i am not sure which one will give me a good foundation in the areas i am interested in. There are AS degrees in chemistry, biology, mathematics/physics. There is also one AAS degree in Molecular Biotechnology, but it indicates that i shouldn't take that if i am planning on transferring to a graduate school, which i am. The problem im having is that i have read that molecular biologists need to know alot of math, physics, biology, and chemistry, and i don't know which program would give me the foundation that i need in order to find a nitch in such a big field. Also, i've been reading a bit about bioinformatics, and i've seen alot of research opportunities for people with experience in that field, and it makes me wonder if i shouldnt be taking some programming courses as well. Any input is greatly appreciated, hopefully after a while i'll have some stimulating conversation to offer Thank you!