Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn

About Jennifer Rohn

Scientist, novelist, rock chick

In which I salute the pioneers

Cell and molecular biology is a bit of a dark art. The way we perform our experiments has been passed down from generation to generation in sacred texts known as “protocols”. Like any recipe used and abused by generations of … Continue reading →

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In which I seek the evidence – and ideas

A post I initially wrote about the consequences of putting arbitrary sell-by dates on post-docs seeking fellowships has been rebutted by my esteemed OT colleague Athene Donald. It’s an interesting post and I encourage people to have a look at … Continue reading →

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In which my heart goes out to Postdoc B

What a difference a few words make. Compare this: With this:

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In which science kicks caterpillar ass, and other tales

Sometimes I can go an entire day without seeing most of my fellow lab mates. I’ve been stuck at the computer in my office recently; various other colleagues are holed up in faraway microscope rooms or sequestered in the Fly … Continue reading →

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In which I find acceptance

A happy ending – just the way I like them. Can I go collapse now?

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In which I can put it off no longer

Summer has slipped away from London, as it seems to do every year around this time – the air has an autumnal coolness and raindrops patter against lab windows. We Londoners work around this, as we do around so many … Continue reading →

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In which I surface briefly

Greetings, Earthlings: just emerging from my self-imposed laboratory exile for a quick update. I do still exist, and my radio silence can be explained by the fact that I’m in the home stretch of my resubmission. For those of you … Continue reading →

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In which I scrape by

I’ve been pondering the theoretical maximum number of simultaneous cell biological experiments that one person can do without losing it. I’ve also been testing the theory on a practical basis – on myself. And I can safely report that, by … Continue reading →

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In which my vibration woes deepen

The plot thickens. For those of you who have been dangling in urgent uncertainty, I can report that the vibration problem in our incubator has not gone away. I thought I’d get around it by using smaller, non-round vessels, such … Continue reading →

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In which I play to win

If running a scientific project is like cooking, then my usual modus operandi in the lab is to prepare a lavish, many-course meal. The meal, in this analogy, is the overarching goal of what I want to understand, and each … Continue reading →

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