Tales from the Lab
Science Projects
These are my stories about the different science projects that I have worked on during various stages of my career. Rather than just reprint the information available in papers, I provide some historical details about each project, and discuss what I learned while working on each project. I think most people have interesting stories about the actual process of “doing science”. Unfortunately, most people don’t tell them to the general public until they become famous and write a book. As a result, the average person has no idea what scientists do. This is my attempt to open a two-way (or at least “truthful” one-way) dialog about what goes on in the lab. If you’re not a scientist, I think you’ll find that it’s not really that different than other professions. If you’ve worked in a lab, then you’ll probably nod along and laugh.
The Structure of RNase HII
One of my first rotation projects in graduate school involved determining the structure of RNase HII from a theromphilic archaeabacteria (microscopic organism that lives at temperatures > 90 C) A. fulgidus. I really just “fell into” this project, and definitely had some early luck. However, I like to think I made the most of a good situation.
