First Encounters
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Image credits to Girl with red hat on Unsplash
In the short posts below, Manmath and Dhirendra describe first encounters with lab phenomena and biological procedures.
Looking Through the Microscope
Dhirendra Pal Singh
This is not about big, groundbreaking stuff. But even in my regular college practical classes, I have moments that really make me think. Like when I look through the microscope and see sperm swimming—it's such a simple thing, but it's so fascinating. Watching them move around reminds me that even the small, everyday things can lead to bigger realisations. It's not about doing something flashy, it's about appreciating what's right in front of us. Every little discovery matters and is part of the bigger picture in science.
My Journey with Gel Electrophoresis
Image by Dhirendra
Manmath Kumar Rout
Illustration by Manmath
My journey with gel electrophoresis was more of a comedy than a smooth scientific process, with me as the always-confused main character. From the moment I was given the task, I felt very afraid to do the experiment.
The first few attempts looked less like a gel and more like lumpy, translucent blancmange. “Too much buffer!” boomed Dr. Santhosh’s voice echoed through the lab. “What are you doing?!”
Then came the time to run the DNA sample (Isolated from Bacterial DNA: E.coli). I’d load the sample meticulously in the gel, only to discover, post-run, that the gel revealed nothing. Empty lanes stared back at me, accusingly. "Contamination!" "Pipetting error!" "Are you sure you even added the DNA?!" The chorus of criticism was relentless, each failure punctuated by the exasperated sighs of my lab mates.
I spent hours studying protocols, watching YouTube tutorials, and asking Dr. Santhosh so many questions that I feared she’d lose patience with me. Slowly, things began to improve—the DNA began to show up, faintly at first, but soon becoming clearer and sharper. I learned to handle electrophoresis, practised precise pipetting, and discovered the trick to perfectly mixing agarose.
The turning point for me finally came during a particularly crucial experiment. The pressure was on, and my previous failures loomed large in everyone’s minds. I took a deep breath and reminded myself of every step and every pitfall I had encountered before. Then, I ran the gel and when I placed the gel on the UV transilluminator, everyone gasped. There it was—a perfect ladder of bright bands. My DNA. Clear.
The cheers of encouragement felt good, but what meant more for me was when the teasing stopped. My lab mates looked at me with new found respect.
I had faced my fear, and what once seemed impossible was now just another skill I had learned. My past failures still made me smile, but I know I’d never look at a gel electrophoresis diagram the same way again, knowing fully well what executing it entails.
About Dhirendra
Dhirendra Pal Singh belongs to Pali, Rajasthan and is currently pursuing a masters in Clinical Embryology, with the long term goal of becoming a genetic counsellor.
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About Manmath
Manmath Kumar Rout has a postgraduate in Biotechnology and is serving as a QA/RA professional with 5+ years in medical devices & bio-products.
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"I am telling you this because I want you to understand, that you don’t have to know what you want to do in science. It’s not an intersection of roads, rather you are in a boat called Life floating in the ocean of scientific pursuits, and you can pick any direction you want. And guess what? You can always edit your course as you go along."
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