After the rain

Selina's herb garden

This is a post to show you that things here are not always the way you imagine. First we are very busy with work (and some social stuff too...) so I had no time updating you earlier. Second it was raining a lot and the sun was rarely out. That's no problem, as we actually enjoy a change in weather from time to time. Also, it's great for Selina's new herb garden! The thing is that you're not supposed to go surfing after a heavy rain, as all the dirt is swept into the ocean ;-( Means I have to tell you a little bit about work instead of surfing with dolphins stories...

Selina is still busy with cloning genes of interest to start with her knock-in experiments. As the Plasmodium aficionados amongst you know, this can be really annoying. In our lab we are currently upgrading our FACS from analogue to digital and from two lasers to three and from 6 colors to 17. Yes, quite some changes and every step has its own caveats. The good thing is that I get to clean components of lasers, do plumbing, have to deal with optics and so on. Gives me a chance to really understand the instrument. You always have to see the positive side! Beside this I do more molecular stuff. I try to get into the whole world of single cell PCR, sequencing and BCR rearrangements and mutations. With the help of Neekesh from Selina's lab I try to write a script to automate some of the alignment and analysis. Or let's be honest: Neekesh is writing a Perl script for me. Thanks mate! For myself I'm still stuck at the introduction to UNIX.

Dr. Fazilleau and Dr. Okitsu aligning the third laser (with eye protection!)

What else? No country for old men! The new Coen movie. Great! If you like the Coen brothers you absolutely have to see it! Weird characters and beautiful pictures.
That's it for now!