Bio Job Blog : Bio Jobs : Biotechnology Jobs : Biopharmaceutical Jobs : Bioscience, Biotech Jobs : Bio Job Blog : Biocareer : Bio-Business Training, Biotechnology Training : Jobs in Biology : Internships in Biology : Internships in Biotechnology

There is no question that mobile apps are de rigueur and like other mobile devices users, life science researchers are beginning to regularly use them! After all, any innovation that can make the long hours spent doing laboratory research, easier, less time-consuming and enjoyable are likely to be welcomed by most researchers.

According to Alex Hodgson, one of the founders of the antibody review site called BioHub Online “mobile apps for science-types are popping up everywhere.” These apps range from lab timers, to mobile notebooks and science journals. 

Alex recently reviewed several mobile science apps on the BioHub Blog  that “piqued her interest” Some of the apps may be familiar to you while others may not. This is what she had to say:

'Bio-Apps: Technology Meets Science'

By Alex Hodgson

Mendeley iPhone App
Free

This application indexes and organizes all of your PDF documents and research papers into your own personal digital library. It gathers document details from your PDFs allowing you to search, organize and cite. It also looks up PubMed, CrossRef, DOIs and other related document details automatically, importing papers quickly and easily from resources such as Google Scholar, ACM, IEEE and many more at the click of a button. 

Sync with Mendeley
Mendeley (Lite) for iPhone syncs seamlessly with your Mendeley research collection. This means that you can now carry your personal digital library with you wherever you go. 

Read your Papers Offline
If there is a paper you want to check out later, you can download it over wifi straight to your iPhone from your online library. It will remain available to read offline at any time, making it easy for you to read what you want, when you want.

Share Citations
If there is a paper that you just need to let your colleagues know about right now, you can share the citation to that paper from within the app via email.

Molecules
Free

Molecules is an application for the iPhone, iPod touch, and now iPad that allows you toview three-dimensional renderings of molecules and manipulate them using your fingers. You can rotate the molecules by moving your finger across the display, zoom in or out by using two-finger pinch gestures, or pan the molecule by moving two fingers across the screen at once. The combination of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad's unique multitouch input system and the built-in OpenGL ES 3D graphics capabilities enable you to feel like you are manipulating the molecules themselves with your fingers.

New molecules can be downloaded from the RCSB Protein Data Bank

Primer Jot
$0.99

This molecular biology application aims to help you keep track of your oligos, all in one place, calculate the primer melting temperature (Tm) (based on a standard set of conditions) and categorize it, assign a project, as well as physical location details. Search feature ever allows you to quickly search primers/oligos based on name, project, sequence, Tm and even your notes. A must-have for anyone who works with PCR.

BioLegend Tools for the iPad/iPhone Application
All Free

BioLegend CD Molecules Applications
The application compiles information on all of the Human and Mouse CD Markers based on the findings of the HLDA workshop. Now you can find CD molecule information quickly and conveniently in the palm of your hand.

Cytokines & Chemokines Application
This application provides you with important information about your mouse and human cytokines and chemokines. Now you can find information about cytokines and chemokines quickly and conveniently in the palm of your hand.

BioLegend Tools for the iPad
This application includes information on Human & Mouse CD Molecules from the HLDA Workshop and Cytokines & Chemokines,an Antibody Usage Calculator as well as a lab timer.

Apps from Invitrogen
Free

DailyCalc
Calculate molarity and formula weight, or find unit conversions and cell culture references all with this smart calculator widget.

Alexa Fluor Selection Guide
This handy app serves as a quick reference guide for selecting the perfect Alexa Fluor® dye for your research.

Promega
Free

This application provides lots of great information for life scientists, including quick access to molecular biology calculators, technical tips, protocols, and multimedia presentations. The calculators provide a range of functions essential to molecular biology experiments, including DNA and protein conversions, melting temperature, molarity and dilution calculations.

The Protocols & Applications section of the App covers molecular, cell biology, DNA and protein analysis procedures, and is divided into chapters covering a comprehensive range of topics --from basic amplification techniques to real-time PCR, from simple cell-based assays to complex imaging techniques, and from protein expression to more involved protein interactions assays.

All are available through iTunes

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Researching!!!!!!!!!!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

After months of complaints by university officials and scientific organizations, the US State Department announced on Tuesday that it is taking action to speed up the delay-plagued visa process for foreign graduate students and post-doctoral researchers.

For the past few years, foreign science and engineering graduate students and postdoctoral seeking to obtain or renew visas have routinely experienced long delays sometimes taking as long as several months. The problem became so acute that students and researchers who left the US often found themselves stranded abroad, not knowing when their visas might be approved.  Not surprisingly, the delays have caused enormous problems for American universities, which heavily rely on foreign nationals to fill slots in graduate and post-doctoral science and engineering programs. Over the last year or so, visa difficulties having discouraged many scientific organizations from holding meetings in the United States. Some life sciences researchers said the apparent reluctance of the United States to accept them encouraged them to seek work in other countries.

The State Department has hired additional personal to deal with the visa backlog but will not say how long it will take to correct the problem. A state department official indicated that they hope to handle routine visa requests within a two week time frame.

While never officially acknowledged, the Bush Administration intentionally slowed the visa process for foreign researchers to “guard against proliferation of science and technical information.” In other words, the visa backlog was likely intentionally created to prevent foreign drug companies and national scientific agencies from infringing on American intellectual property and patent rights—an ongoing practice that clearly frightened many of the jingoistic officials running the Bush State Department.

However, what the Bush administration failed to understand was that a majority of foreign students who train in the US want to remain here after completion of their studies. The visa backlog and its protectionist intent forced many foreign nationals to forgo their US training and return to their home countries to seek employment. This was beginning to threaten scientific and technical innovation in US laboratories because for the past decade or longer American students have shied away from science and engineering to pursue careers in business and computer science. Ironically, the Bush Administration’s protectionist leanings may have contributed—more than they care to admit—

 to the massive job cuts that have taken place at American life sciences companies in the past few years because of availability of a US-trained work forces in countries like India and China. This provides American life sciences companies with reasonable assurances that preclinical and clinical research outsourced to these countries will be conducted according to US standards. Further, it also provides foreign companies with unbridled access to a growing cadre of US-trained scientists that will enable them to compete on a head-to-head basis with American life sciences companies.

Fortunately, the Obama Administration, unlike the previous one, delivers on its promises and appears to be willing to work hard to restore science and technology to its rightful place in American society.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (it may now be possible for many foreign students!)

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

While the domino theory was incorrect when it came to the spread of communism during the Cold War, there may be a kernel of truth to it when it is applied to today’s pharmaceutical industry. On Tuesday, Pfizer announced that it would lay off 800 researchers. Not to be outdone by Pfizer, Roche announced today that it plans to lay off about 780 workers over the next two to three years because of “worsening economic conditions.”

After spending the last decade or so associated with the pharmaceutical industry, one thing that I have learned is that there isn’t a single company that I can think of that wants to be the first to do anything. However, when a pharma company makes a bold move, the others are very quick to follow because they “don’t want to be perceived as not being “cutting edge” or keeping pace with their competitors. To that end, the domino theory may warrant some further investigation when it comes to day-to-day operations of big pharma.

Until next time,

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!! 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link