Can someone help with genetics lab questions?

Question

I am writing a book where the main character is a Microbiologist, and I can't find a genetics lab that will answer my questions on things such as lab hierarchy, research, machines used, etc. Can someone help?

Answer 1

No I cant, becuse most of such operations are secrets. Why dont you write a fiction? After all, nobody knows the real processes.

Answer 2

Well, a lot depends on what kind of work the person is doing in the Genetics Lab.... if they're cloning, the process is going to be completely different if they're trying to work on spinal cord regeneration, and even more different if they're working on population genetics. If you could be more specific about what kind of research the character is doing, then I could be a lot more specific about research and machines used.

But, I'll let you know some of what's done. If you're cloning, you're going to need to be using the PCR process, you would denature the DNA and take the PCR fragments to clone the gene. There are a lot of times when you would need to use things like centrifuges, heating and cooling elements, dyes (so that you can identify things under a microscope), etc. You would also need to put the DNA through processes that would eliminate the carbohydrates, proteins, etc, and just leave behind the nucleic acids.

For things like population genetics, you wouldn't be so much in a lab as you would be out in a field, tracking how many of an animal/plant/fungi is in a population, and what genetic traits they display. The information gotten from the field would probably be brought back into a lab or an office, but the actual procedure would be done outside.

As far as the heirarchy in the lab goes, that also depends. Are they in a hospital, at a college, or a government funded lab? Regardless, usually the lab is run by a professor (such as a geneticist or microbiologist, in your case), and grad students work under the professor. Grad students, more likely than not, will be doing a lot of menial work in the lab (such as feed rats to snakes, be the one who has to sit and count things under the microscope, separate asci in fungi, etc), while the geneticist/microbiologist sets the procedure and examines the data, draws the conclusion, and works out ways to continue the research based on the collected data. Those who are above the professor are those who run the institution, which would be the board of directors at the hospital or government run lab, or the person who's the science department chair at a college.

Hope this helps!