My company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, is sponsoring a small research grant valued at $12,500 in Pierce Human In Vitro Protein Expression Kits. Currently there is a call for abstracts. The application submission deadline for the in vitro translation grant ends April 6, 2010. The application is not very long so the the abstract, experimental design and other information should be polished, brief and to the point.

To read more information and get an application: Call for Applications: Thermo Scientific In Vitro Protein Translation Grant Program

Why is this so important? Well, the Pierce In Vitro Protein Expression Kits are the first commercially available products to use Human cell extracts for in vitro protein translation. These kits produce high yields of functional protein with the proper post translational modifications, something that is missing from bacterial, yeast, insect and rabbit cell-based expression systems. There are four kit formats, two specifically optimized for in vitro glycoprotien expression and two for general in vitro protein expression. For each type of kit, there is one for protein expression from either DNA or mRNA templates – all producing much higher yield than the common Promega TNT® T7 Coupled Reticulocyte Lysate System

The Bit.ly links will either take you to the grant program or product pages I created on www.piercenet.com

Not doing anything much tonight, but I did get to march in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade this past Saturday. I was down there for my friend Brendan’s bachelor party and part of the we joined his sister Jane, parading down the road with the State Representative Harry Osterman’s Float.

It was cold, foggy, rainy and dreary… authentic weather for the event.

Here are some of the photos that turned out. A lot of shots didn’t turn out so well because I was trying to walk and shoot at the same time.
(You can see them all here)

View photos at SmugMug

This is another product I’m excited about having helped launch on www.piercenet.com. My kit product shot should be on the page shortly.

My company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, is sponsoring a small research grant valued at $12,500 in Pierce Human In Vitro Protein Expression Kits. Currently there is a call for abstracts. The application submission deadline for the in vitro translation grant ends April 6, 2010. The application is not very long so the the abstract, experimental design and other information should be polished, brief and to the point.

To read more information and get an application: Call for Applications: Thermo Scientific In Vitro Protein Translation Grant Program

Why is this so important? Well, the Pierce In Vitro Protein Expression Kits are the first commercially available products to use Human cell extracts for in vitro protein translation. These kits produce high yields of functional protein with the proper post translational modifications, something that is missing from bacterial, yeast, insect and rabbit cell-based expression systems. There are four kit formats, two specifically optimized for in vitro glycoprotien expression and two for general in vitro protein expression. For each type of kit, there is one for protein expression from either DNA or mRNA templates – all producing much higher yield than the common Promega TNT® T7 Coupled Reticulocyte Lysate System

The Bit.ly links will either take you to the grant program or product pages I created on www.piercenet.com

One of the best parts of my job as a Web Content Specialist with Thermo Fisher Scientific (Pierce Protein Research) is the ability to be creative. Part of my job is to help create content to market our products on the web through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM, Google AdWords, etc).

I also create product images and graphics for our website. However, for our new research dialysis products, I had the opportunity to conceptualize and direct a demonstration video showing how easy it is use this new product. After creating the storyboard and script (which had to be approved by corporate headquarters), we worked with RS&K (our ad agency in Madison, WI) to film and produce the video. It’s amazing how much time went into producing a 2 min video, but think it was well worth it.

Benjamin hasn’t really caught much all year and quite frankly he’s bored of fishing and I haven’t been able to get him interested in going any more. So, I started looking for new places and finally decided to try and find a pay-to-fish places.

Well boys and girls, at the recommendation of my friend Steve, we drove out to Cary, IL to Lake Julian. Let me tell you, it was well worth the 1 hour drive there, the 2 hours sitting on the bank of the pond, the 10 Rainbows over 10 to 15  inches, the trip up the road an ATM to get cash, the $60 I paid for 10 lbs of fish and the hour drive back to Rockford!

Ben with trout from Lake Julian, Cary, IL

I have never seen a kid so excited about catching “real” fish with a spiderman rod and reel. We used worms. We used 3 different kinds of Berkly PowerBait. We used a Yozui Pinn’s Minnow. We even used a Gummy Scooby Snack as bait. We caught fish on everything except the Scooby Snack – but we did watch a 13 in trout eat one before we tried it on the hook.

Yes, $6 a pound for trout is pricey! However, the pond was clean, the fish were healthy and the fish were do big that Benjamin could not hold them up to take pictures with the ones he caught.

15 inch rainbow trout - sure looks pretty.

If you want to get your kid excited about fishing or simply make up for the really lousy fishing you’ve been having, I recommend a trip out to Cary, IL which is just a hop down the road from Crystal Lake on US HWY 14.

http://www.lakejulian.com/

In addition to the Trout Pond. They also have a small “Big Lake” which apparently has a nice population of game fish.  A quote from their homepage… ”Rates in the big lake are just $8.00 per person for the entire day, Kids under 10 $4.00. Along with this fee you are allowed to take home a limit of 2 Trout, 2 Bass, 2 Northern Pike, 2 Walleye, 4 Catfish, 10 Panfish (Crappie, Bluegill, Perch) . That is 22 fish combined!!” That’s a bit easier on the wallet, but the action is not going to be a heavy.

In addition to having some great fishing with my son, I was able to take some pictures with Ben holding and laying down next to the fish in the grass. He also helped me clean the fish and we are both looking forward to cooking one for lunch tomorrow.

Check out the sites:

http://clickkinetics.com

http://klabrams.smugmug.com