Science can be a lot of work. Thankfully, we have grad students for that.
Kudos to Mike and Ally for carrying this screen to the finish line!
Thinking outside the box...
Abstract
Another week, another box of doughnuts, this time as a reconciliation gift from our chronically late pipette tip supplier. Naturally, we slapped it on our panini press.
Methods
We slapped some doughnuts on our panini press.
Results
Figure 1. We consume a lot of sugar in this lab.
Figure 2. First authorship goes to the boss himself. "how do you think I got this job? I think outside the box" –Brian B. Liau, 2018
Figure 3. Image is representative of two independent experiments.
Conclusion and Future Directions
The results of this study are highly promising, indicating that this method may have widely applicable utility. Future studies will assess how panini press grilling influences the enjoyability of alternate flavors of doughnuts, as well as other dessserts.
Happy birthday to Cindy (and 4th of July!)
Exodus
The tale of the great departmental evacuation of 2018. With just a few days leading up to the Fourth of July holiday, blaring sirens announced trouble. Like all intrepid scientists, none of us initially paid attention–that is, until we heard there was in fact a chemical leak downstairs and the whole department needed to evacuate. Thankfully, the problem was resolved before the end of the day, but not before we all got a dose of "fish out of the water" syndrome.
Check out the pictures below to learn more about our lab's foray . . . outside.
The group enjoys some refreshing gelato to cool off from the hot day.
Same gelato, different camera angle. PC: B.B. Liau.
Professor Liau prepares a lecture for the class...
...until we were kicked out of said classroom. Time for class outside!
Abandoned brewery plans...
An undergrad-friendly adventure. What do you do when you plan an impromptu brewery outing but find out only upon arriving that anyone under 21 needs a parent or guardian present to enter?* You turn around and go to a local pub for beer and burgers! After all, family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten.
*And yes, we did call ahead. They straight up lied to us.
The Liau Lab enjoys beer and wholesome American food at a local watering hole, RF O'Sullivan's.
Sweet summer days in the Liau Lab
Good PIs and departments know that donuts are the fuel for excellent research. Our newest three graduate students received a warm welcome with Union Square Donuts twice in one week! With all the sugar going around, it looks like the lab is in for an energized summer brimming with science.
Enjoying donuts and cold brew coffee courtesy of the GPC of the Chemistry and Chemical Biology department!
Donuts from the weekly farmer's market provided by the Principal Investigator himself. In the background, you can spy some of the pretzels the lab is addicted to, along with a set of chopsticks for mess-free eating.
We've moved into our new home!
Check out our new lab! We have two large laboratory rooms as well as a graduate student office space, and a break room. We're pretty much settled in at this point, so now it's time to do some science! Pictured in the tissue culture room is the inagural passage of 293Ts. A postdoc in the background can also be seen setting up the very first chemical reaction of the new lab!
Synthetic chemists enter tissue culture
As any synthetic chemistry lab does, we all appreciate a high enantiomeric or diastereomeric excess. However, generating multiple substrates in one flask has proven to be quite useful as YP and Amanda begin to test some of the compounds that they have been working on over the past few months. Also pictured in the foreground is Kevin, who is, in general quite excited about biology. Cindy is also in this picture somewhere...
Group Dinner and Spring Cookout
The Kirkland Tap & Trotter
Department-wide Spring Cookout
Research at the Interface of Chemistry and Biology
Winter Has Arrived in Cambridge
We've been preparing for hibernation this winter by bulking up with chocolate and food at various holiday parties. One of the well-known caveats of joining an interdisciplinary research group is access to multiple department holiday parties.
In addition, the first-year graduate students (aka G1s) have been settling nicely into the group since officially joining in December. As Brian's first round of students, it is an understatement to say that we are excited to help create a culture that will last for years to come. For those of us that are interested by the history of the department, it has been quite the pleasure to work in the space of what used to be the storied lab of Prof. Dave Evans. However, we are very much looking forward to moving into our new space in just a few months (pictures will follow!).
YP vs. the Jabeñero Salsa: A Trip to the Border Cafe
A good number of our fellow classmates recently joined the Jacobsen and Liu research groups. In the spirit of the holidays as well as a birthday (Dennis, pictured far right), we hit The Border Cafe, a local favorite in Harvard Square. Despite being a veteran of the Cambridge area, YP (left) discovered he couldn't take the heat of Border's salsa.
