labour of 'lab'

If nothing else, working in a lab offers plenty of opportunities for amusement:

1. My fellow lab workers who talk about their kids all day. And my postdoc who croons to his ES cells as if they WERE his kids (in all truth I must admit that to watch your painstakingly harvested cells begin to (differentiate into a heart and) pulse is quite a breathtaking moment).

2. My lab tech who is a true techie outside the lab as well. He goes round asking people if they've heard about the latest handphone models and gadgets, and sports (poseur) designer wear.

3. My next-door cubicle neighbour who must have a post-lunch nap every day without fail.

4. Discovering alternative uses for colourful PCR tubes (vases/ message holders), Kimwipes (hands-down best spectacle cleaners), hazard waste disposal bags (lunch carriers, umbrella covers) etc.

5. I love reading papers and seeing abbreviations for genes such as Alas, Ass1, Wee1, Dram, and (one of my faves) Pigs. The clincher: the protein my lab works on is called GRIM-19 (gene associated with retinoic-interferon-induced mortality 19 protein), and its official title is NDUFA13 (NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 alpha subcomplex 13).

It just makes my day.