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I realised today, while explaining what I do to a student, that molecular biology is truly tedious. Not the results or analysis (and there's very little in biology that isn't interesting when you get down to it), but the actual doing of it, the standing around waiting for a centrifuge to complete its one-minute spin (there's practically nothing worth doing that would fit in one minute). The endless pipetting of liquid from one tiny, awkward to handle container to another. The messing around with dangerous stuff just to see if the latest batch of polyclonal reactions actually worked.

Well, I'm glad it's boring. Because I really enjoy the manual aspect of the work, and sitting around waiting for a centrifuge to spin down or an incubation to complete is time to think and muse. And the more people who find it boring, the more likely it is that I will find a nice lab-based job (preferably somewhere where people aren't fixated on the fact that I can use a computer. Contrary to expectations, having a qualification in computer science does not mean I want to spend the day sitting in front of a monitor. If I did, I'd get a job programming). I want nice happy lab work, preferably a good variety thereof, an interesting project to work on and think about, and time to dream.

I like biology.

- Sun Kitten, 28th March '06

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