r/molecularbiology

I’m entering my fifth month of a PhD in molecular biology, and lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the pessimism around me. So far, I’m doing well in the program and reasonably well in research given how early it is. I also have a young, supportive, involved mentor. But constantly hearing other students and faculty talk about the terrible job market, the “uselessness” of PhDs, and how hopeless academia is has been really discouraging. Not that I blame anyone for complaining, because it doesn't seem like they're wrong.

I really do love science and academia, but I'm seeing the path beyond the PhD as overly cutthroat, and work-life balance is sacrificed in order to succeed. I’d say I'm ambitious and productive (I’ve written multiple papers since starting, one published and others under review), and I care about what I do, but I also care about maintaining boundaries and having a life outside work. I’ve left "prestigious" environments before because they crossed reasonable work/life boundaries. I wanted a future that includes both a fulfilling career and eventually a family, and maybe that was just me being naive (especially as a woman). Right now, everything past this point just seems impossible without major sacrifices.

My mentor, despite being kind and supportive, also adds pressure regarding my future. He frequently talks about how “nobody wants to do science anymore” and often frames things as “when you become a PI, you’ll need to know X and Y.” I did express interest in academia during interviews, but now I feel somewhat locked into that expectation. He brags about me to everyone he meets, which I appreciate but also he always mentions me 'wanting to be a PI'. Recently he even said my generation is “the hope” for the lab and our subfield, which honestly felt overwhelming. I worry that if he knew how I'm feeling, he'd turn against me.

I'm not even really sure what advice I'm asking for but I've always been someone who needed a clear direction, and the fact that I can't figure out a future that fits both my career and personal goals has been on my mind every single day. I don't have doubts that I can do this, but I am having doubts about what the point of doing this is. I can't see my way forward. Anyway thank you for reading guys I appreciate any advice

Hello! I am a current internship student in dire need of help!!!

I’ve recently completed my internship and now have to write the report and absolutely stabbed myself in the foot by writing horrid lab notes…

We used 3 methods to see if dna amplification works, one being gel electrophoresis, another being a lateral flow and I’m trying to remember the third. We used the Nanodrop 2000 spectrophotometer, would it make sense for that to be the third?

Thank you for your input! 🙏

Hello everyone! I am in need of some serious advice.

I am a 29-year-old living in Greece. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology/Genetics from a Greek university and an MSc from Germany (completed in 2024). In between my studies, I worked in a diagnostic lab in Greece for 3 years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with my university labs, I actually have plenty of hands-on experience.

A bit of context: My family consists only of my mother (who is a teacher) and me. I have no relatives, acquaintances, or connections in the scientific field to talk to, even about minor things. Because I was quite an introvert during university, I didn’t build a network or make friends in the field. I also didn't do summer schools, extra projects, or internships. I cannot discuss this with anyone and, more importantly, I have no one to ask for their real experience. It feels like almost everyone lies and says they did everything on their own, but then I later find out that they actually live with their “uncle” or have family help.

Right now, I am completely stuck and weighing my options:

Option A: Working in Greece

1. My hometown: I live in a small town and there are absolutely no open positions in my profession here.
2. Remote work: I’ve been trying to find remote biology roles, but I can't find anything.
3. Relocating locally: I've thought about moving to Athens or Thessaloniki, BUT the rents are so high right now that I don't think I could survive on a starting salary on my own. Does this mean I'm forced to stay in my hometown?

Option B: Going Abroad

1. PhDs: During my Master’s, I was offered 2 PhD positions in two different labs, and I know those offers are still valid. However, almost all of my university lab experiences so far were in highly toxic environments. Mentally, I am not ready to dive back into academia anytime soon. Plus, the rent crisis abroad is also a huge issue.
2. Industry work abroad: Trying to find a corporate/industry job abroad feels like a massive risk due to high rent costs and having absolutely zero acquaintances or safety net in a foreign country.

Option C: Continuing Studies (Pivoting Fields)

Even though I have good degrees, I am struggling so much to find work that I am considering going back to school for a second degree to guarantee employment:
6. Medicine: This would require relocation, dealing with rent again, and another 5–6 years of education.
7. Nursing: Not available in my hometown, but I could commute there every day by bus. It would take about 3–4 years.
8. Speech-Language Pathology: This is available right in my hometown (3 years of education) and would allow me to stay put.

I understand that the final decision is mine, but I have no one to bounce ideas off of or ask about their real-world experiences.

Has anyone faced a similar dilemma in bio-sciences? Any insight, reality checks, or advice would mean the world to me. Thank you.

I am a Physics student, soon going into his seond year of college. I do really enjoy doing physics homework sheets and programming, but have always had a lot of interest for life and how biology describes it. Especially molecular biology and genetics fascinate me. While there are no plans to swap majors, I would be quite discontent to not have the opportunity to be able to study these things. Does anyone know where or how I can apply Physics knowledge in biology research, especially genetics and molecular biology?

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Does anyone know a protocol that uses an in-house method to extract cfDNA? I'm trying to do WGS of ctDNA

Figra is a free Excel add-in that brings ggplot2-quality figures directly into Excel. No R

installation, no coding required. You can install it directly from your Excel add-in tab.

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background via WebAssembly (webR).

**Chart types**

Histogram, box plot, violin plot, dot plot, bar chart, grouped variants, line plots,

https://preview.redd.it/n01jubu8981h1.png?width=2307&format=png&auto=webp&s=3932cda987b26adc11ee7df4b83f9ceb2a704b1d

**Built-in statistical analysis**

- Auto-selects the appropriate test (Shapiro-Wilk, Levene's / F-test, t-test / Wilcoxon /

ANOVA / Kruskal-Wallis)

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All data and settings are embedded invisibly in the exported PNG. Select the PNG in Excel

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https://h20gg702.github.io/figra-pages/

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Approximately 25% of 7200 noncoding open reading frames produce detectable peptides in cells with unknown function.

Hi everyone, I’m a Master's student studying leaf senescence and I’m sufferying trying to estimate protease activity using an agar diffusion assay, but I’ve hit a wall.

So, the method was simple:

1. Medium: 1.5% Agar enriched with 0.1% BSA.
2. Procedure: I pipette a protein-rich extract (lyophilized leaves in phosphate buffer, normalized to 0.1 mg of protein) into small pits in the agar.
3. Incubation: 24 hours at room temperature.
4. Staining: 2 hours with Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB), followed by a destaining solution.

The Problem: In my head (and my supervisor’s), the proteases should digest the BSA, leaving a colorless/clear halo around the wells. Instead, I’m getting the exact opposite: darker blue halos around the pits.

What I’ve tried so far:

• Adjusting the exposure time for both the Coomassie stain and the destainer. (not better)
• Moving to a colorimetric method using Azocasein, but the substrate doesn't seem to dissolve completely and is very difficult to work with.

I feel like I'm the only person I know doing this specific method for coffee leaves. Has anyone dealt with these "reverse halos" before? Could it be protein-protein interference or the high concentration of my extract proteins staining more than the BSA?

Any advice on how to fix this or a recommendation for a more reliable protease assay for plant tissue would be a lifesaver!

I’m taking an intro to biology course and on a homework I wrote that tRNA releases its amino acid during translation when it gets to the P site coming from the A site of the ribosome, I got marked wrong for it but my professor didn’t make any comments on why. From what I found online that is what happens, no?

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