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...A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Protein Lab began in the BCB teaching labs, in the basement of Anderson Biology. Those Rice students affectionately named the location The Dungeon...no windows, no natural light, cold and damp, so very easy to lose track of time...thus, the following quote seems a fitting description:

Through Me the Way into the Woeful City,
Through Me the Way to the Eternal Pain,
Through Me the Way Among the Lost People.
Justice Moved My Maker on High,
Divine Power Made Me and Supreme Wisdom and Primal Love;
Before Me Nothing was Created but Eternal Things and I Endure Eternally.
ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YE THAT ENTER.
-Dante's Inferno (Inscription on the Gate of Hell, Canto III; translated by John D. Sinclair, London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1939)

• ADA Pie (a parody by William R. Massie, Rice 2007)

  (the 1st verse is to the tune of the 1st verse of "American Pie;" the 2nd verse is to the tune of the last verse of the song)
  
  A short, short time ago,
  I can still remember how old Jon made the E. coli lyse
  And we homogenized the tongue
  Then centrifuged and everyone
  Then went and put their samples on some ice
  And SEC gave us purer
  Enzyme and it made us surer
  That we were on the right track
  Cause there's no time to turn back
  The next few steps entailed that we
  Do dialysis and AEC
  Spec.'s made sure that we could see
  That we had our protein
  
  (Refrain:)
  Hey, hey, now just what do you say
  Can E. coli make the native form of mouse ADA
  Can its enzyme work in the very same way
  To take that old amine group away
  Take that old amine group away
  
  Our messed-up gels gave me the blues
  So I asked TA's for happy news
  "Well that don't matter anyway"
  I went and did kinetics runs
  Though I knew that they would not be fun
  And I made the tables to see what they'd say
  And in the next lab we were staining
  While outside the sky was raining
  We heard not a raindrop
  The dungeon makes the world stop
  Then came the time we'd longed for most
  We ended lab with hopeful toast
  "May your paper grade let you coast
  Your way through protein lab"
  
  (Refrain: repeat twice)
  
  

• Top 10 Reasons to Take Bios 311

  10. Career Awareness
  9. Introduction to Scientific Literature and Library Skills
  8. Hands-On Experience in Protein Purification ~ 7 days * 20 techniques * 10 pieces of equipment
  7. Gain Confidence in Lab Techniques and Research Skills
  6. Opportunities to Think and Problem-Solve
  5. Design Experiment on the Basis of Results ~ Not a "Cookbook" Lab
  4. Understand and Maintain Useful Records (Lab Notebook)
  3. Improve Skills in Writing a Scientific Paper ~ This ain't no Academ class!
  2. Develop Teamwork/Collaborative Skills
  1. Best Tuition Bargain at Rice ~ You get all of the above for the cost of only 1 credit hour ~
  
  

• Student Comments

  Spring 2003:
  • Through the rumor mill I had always heard (and thus envisioned) that protein lab was a nightmare of sorts, especially the long hours. I'm glad to say that it wasn't in the least, and while it was long, it was not unreasonable. I definitely feel as though I improved in the areas of significant figures and data interpretation and enjoyed the research aspect of the lab report....After this lab I understand more so than ever the importance of teamwork and cooperation....
  • Today is the last day of protein lab! Wow, it went by so quickly! But no matter what people say, it's not nearly as bad as we think....Surprisingly enough, I did enjoy this lab and I feel like I got a lot out of it...

Copyright, Acknowledgements, and Intended Use
Created by B. Beason (bbeason@rice.edu), Rice University, 25 May 2006
Updated 14 August 2006