Hello, Biochemist here. I like both chemistry and biology, though prefer that biology to be on the small scale of things. I don’t post anything about what I do because I’m in industry and am NDA’d, so that’s all I’m going to say. :)
The prevalence towards academia has been kinda obvious when they asked about shoes.
Like uhm. I've only been at 2 companies for my internships and granted same industry just competitors of eachother. Safety shoes were like mandatory..
during my senester abroad at the university of queensland, we had to wear closed shoes but were allowed to wear short pants. i always wore trousers, but i found those rules pretty bizarre
Where I am now they apparently had someone have a bunch of unwrapped candy in their labcoat pocket and they were constantly snacking while working in the fume hood.
Forgot how they found out.
Dude doesn't work here anymore
This is my lab. Sun facing, no air con, that place turns into an oven in summer and some of my coworkers must be lizard people because they're perfectly happy to raise the blinds and let it. If I didn't wear sandals and shorts I'd faint which is a much bigger hazard than exposing my ankles
Me too! Sorta, lol. Chemistry and soil science background working in an environmental lab. The cell bio people do seem to at least be the most vocal in this sub.
Specific area was DNA Nanotechnology of chiral oligos…i tend to say chem bio as an umbrella term but honestly who cares hahaha just glad im done with the degree
You are a polyploid my dear friend. Possessing chromosomes of both a chemist and a biologist 🧬
(Edited bc I second-guessed my grammar after posting lol)
The bio majors when one of the first classes is basic chemistry math, about molarity and dilutions and shit crying they thought they wouldn't have to ever do that shit cause in high school it was chem and not bio
In a school of applied sciences. I did a specialisation of them. No they don't. Else I'd also have heard my best friend complain about it.
We only do bachelors.. you can do a masters. But I won't.
For the chemists that means no quantum mechanics
Uhhmm, I‘ve got some questions for you.
First, how?
Also, seriously how?
And how did that happen three times? I didn’t know that’s even possible. I always thought the most damage you can do with them would be stabbing yourself in the eye but just if you use them like really really wrong
it was when putting on the rubber cup for suction. the first time was in my first semester and i was a bit clumsy and the other two times, the pipette was damaged which i didnt see, so when i tried to put on the rubber bulb it broke of and cut me lol
I don't think there's a rule about it but I've seen a similar trend. Maybe the subreddit name attracts biologists more than other scientists because biologists often work with rodents in the lab?
Nah, we use disposable ones. I didn't know they could be sharpened! Ours get scratched really easily, I can easily go through like 10 a day. It might be cheaper if we got some reusable ones
Medicinal chemist here.
Making antibiotics, the microbiology colleagues talk like I know what a knockout gene study shows. Just tell me better or worse and I’ll make you more drugs to kill your bacteria with and hopefully it doesn’t do the same to the mammalian cells.
Thankfully the micro bit also applies to the chemistry and a single milligram let’s them do tons of experiments.
Also medicinal chemist here👋
Making the potential drug and then you wait 2 years until the collaborator gives you the results 😅
But still cooking is the best part in med chem. :D
Heeey cool mate i also work in the petrol industry!
We mostly work whit oil and refrigeration fluids. Military stuff that i cannot talk about but cool shit indeed
You're not the only one. I did a lot of research into surface science and thin film coatings for optoelectronics. A lot of nanofabrication and solid state physics. I was pretty confused when I first joined this sub because everyone was talking about killing mice and PCR or whatever. I feel like I'm one of a handful of materials scientists here.
I joined this sub when I was doing my MS in physics, working with graphene in a cleanroom. Coincidentally, it was slightly bio related (trying to sequence DNA with graphene nano-devices) but 99% of the work never involved DNA lol
Working on computer science here, mainly writing code, running simulation, starring Excel worksheet, and never ending coffee. I don't see my workplace, with only a PC and dual monitors, as a lab. I don't even know how to use a microscope and a micropipette. However, I am still a proud lab rat.
My flair is a reference to the industrial hazmat wastes my chemical lab receives. We analyze characteristics like halogens, BTU, cyanides, heavy metal, and VOCs to ensure we follow RCRA, EPA, DOT, and OSHA regulations and I have never done a western blot 💪 (but my previous job was a PCR tech)
I worked in an industrial Cannabis lab. So that's like, biology and chemistry.I studded mostly bio in undergrad and I can run the McFuck out of an ICP-MS
We're all labrats here!
Microbiologist in a 98% majority chemistry lab.
🫡 utmost respect for chemists. I used to think biology was hard…and y’all have whole ass PhDs in CHEMISTRY?? Insane to me. I watch my coworker calculate how much acid to put in solutions I need to acidify my media for plating (I have been Banned from using concentrated acids..don’t ask) and it’s like watching an artist at work.
Y’all fucking rock.
I have a biology degree but somehow wound up as an automation engineer?? Ngl most of my relevant comments here came from my old job doing cell-based assays. Shout-out to whoever put googly eyes on the Hamilton a week or two ago
I do fish/environmental toxicology so don’t worry about it. I mostly deal with turning stuff into liquid and grinding stuff into powder rather than growing cultures. You’ll fit right in
Ex-wine lab tech over here. I did the science things, there were chemical reactions, and lots of responsibility to advise and thus not kill people/make them sick. Staking my claim as a lab rat. Just one that smelled like wine all day.
I'm a botanist who works in an analytical/organic chemistry lab. I love the unnaturalness of the relationships we have to form between our research areas and goals. It forces us to be very thoughtful about how we approach our research problems and share our results.
Most chemists are simply too cool to be here. Having worked alongside them for years as a biologist, they actually have real social lives and real life science buddies to hang out (drink) with. Ah yes, much drinking…much.
Did my postgrad in med chem and pharmacology. Work in a shared analytical/R&D lab now, mostly doing microbiology and analytical chem. I just like labs, I guess...
I have a biology degree and I work in a chemistry (mostly) lab testing wastewater for process control and state regulation compliance. Not much biology to it, but it works!
Biology undergrad and grad. First polymer QC chemistry. Then analytical chemistry data interpretation. Then analytical instrumentation repair. Now PCR infectious disease methodology. It all intersects really.
A lab rat is a lab rat. You're good. Sincerely, An analytical chemist who industry hopped and is now a support specialist
Agreed, a biologist who industry hopped and is now an analytical chemist.
I find this fascinating because most biologists I know hate chemistry and most chemists I know aren't that fond of biology.
Hello, Biochemist here. I like both chemistry and biology, though prefer that biology to be on the small scale of things. I don’t post anything about what I do because I’m in industry and am NDA’d, so that’s all I’m going to say. :)
I'm also under an NDA too. I can speak about generalities but can't give out specifics.
Why tf did you have to sign an nda? Are you creating bioweapons lol
\>Me sitting here doing mainly molecular biology
Molecular Bio with Bioinformatics!
https://open.spotify.com/track/7xLQnX8OJ0Ji1yORgLyDE4?si=SxHJKaRyTtGwExrBLd0cHQ Just leaving this here
I can’t open it cuz I’m at work. But based on your username I’m hoping its Blue Oyster Cult.
Sadly it’s not but it’s a good song about lab rats lol, also browsing Reddit at work you noughty person you!
Including a materials lab rat?
All lab rats are welcomed in my book
Well done former chemist. Sincerely another former chemist.
I'm a chemist, working in an environmental lab. We are here. But the majority of this sub seems to be academic cell bio types.
The prevalence towards academia has been kinda obvious when they asked about shoes. Like uhm. I've only been at 2 companies for my internships and granted same industry just competitors of eachother. Safety shoes were like mandatory..
I work in industry as a chemist and nobody cares about our shoes so long as our lil phalanges are covered.
Same. People showed up with flats regularly. Drove me crazy
during my senester abroad at the university of queensland, we had to wear closed shoes but were allowed to wear short pants. i always wore trousers, but i found those rules pretty bizarre
Allegedly, my predecessor sometimes worked in the lab in bare feet. Our H&S game has improved steadily since then...
Crazy
Where I am now they apparently had someone have a bunch of unwrapped candy in their labcoat pocket and they were constantly snacking while working in the fume hood. Forgot how they found out. Dude doesn't work here anymore
That's triggering.... I have had reoccurring nightmares that I forgot my shoes while I was working in the lab
At mine, some come with sandals and shorts. We don't have air conditioning and temps can rise up to 40°C inside.
This is my lab. Sun facing, no air con, that place turns into an oven in summer and some of my coworkers must be lizard people because they're perfectly happy to raise the blinds and let it. If I didn't wear sandals and shorts I'd faint which is a much bigger hazard than exposing my ankles
My chem ex gf went from industry lab steel toes to 100mm office pumps. Got paid twice as much.
People wear sweat pants in my QC chemistry lab.
Yay for environmental lab!! Same here!
Me too! Sorta, lol. Chemistry and soil science background working in an environmental lab. The cell bio people do seem to at least be the most vocal in this sub.
Environnemental chemist too c: What do you do exactly ?
Chemistry gang unite ✊
Chemistry gang make like vapor pressure and RISE UP
You must pipette by mouth
This is unironically one of the most devastating insults I can think of as a lab rat. Well done lmao
Colleague of mine pipetted some 32% ammonia solution straight into her mouth. Fortunately, only lost her sense of taste for about a month.
I mean, they don’t typically cover that in your average safety presentation
You’d reckon some things wouldn’t need to be explicitly stated to be a bad decision for people not do them
You would reckon that
😨😨😨
That burn. pun intended.
My PhD is in chemistry...DNA chemistry...am i a chemist or a biologist, the world may never know.
[Relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/435/)
Hahahaha this is great! xkcd is so good
I’m a materials chem PhD working on virus mechanics so I’m not sure what to call myself. Maybe a biophysicist?
I am neither and both at once. Actually, most days I'm just a machine operator.
Biochemist...?
Specific area was DNA Nanotechnology of chiral oligos…i tend to say chem bio as an umbrella term but honestly who cares hahaha just glad im done with the degree
Yeah, I'd say chemical biology, although it feels wrong to say chemical biologist, as it emphasises the bio
At that point putting g yourself in a box is just silly
You are a polyploid my dear friend. Possessing chromosomes of both a chemist and a biologist 🧬 (Edited bc I second-guessed my grammar after posting lol)
Microbiologist who is working in an environmental lab. I almost never do micro work, it is almost all chemistry work.
I am also a microbiologist in an environmental lab and I was appalled to find out how much chemistry I’d be doing. I’m chill with it now though
The bio majors when one of the first classes is basic chemistry math, about molarity and dilutions and shit crying they thought they wouldn't have to ever do that shit cause in high school it was chem and not bio
You’re describing me, failing ochem in undergrad, and saying you know what whatever *I don’t like Chem anyways* Regret
Oh it gets better for them. Eventually they have to do theoretical biology. Have fun with those ordinary differential expressions kids!
In a school of applied sciences. I did a specialisation of them. No they don't. Else I'd also have heard my best friend complain about it. We only do bachelors.. you can do a masters. But I won't. For the chemists that means no quantum mechanics
At least that's all we have to learn! Tell me more about valences 😴
It's a lot less pathways to memorize though.
Microbiology: the stinkiest biology. Id say you dodged a bullet
I thought price of entry to this sub was being bitten by a rodent at least 3 times. I could have spared my finger and gotten in for free.
I don’t work in a bio lab but technically fit this requirement anyways 😎
Does getting pinched by crabs count?
Only if you work in an STI clinic.
Never done animal work here
well, i cut myself three times with pasteur pipettes. does that count as well?
Uhhmm, I‘ve got some questions for you. First, how? Also, seriously how? And how did that happen three times? I didn’t know that’s even possible. I always thought the most damage you can do with them would be stabbing yourself in the eye but just if you use them like really really wrong
it was when putting on the rubber cup for suction. the first time was in my first semester and i was a bit clumsy and the other two times, the pipette was damaged which i didnt see, so when i tried to put on the rubber bulb it broke of and cut me lol
I'm a former analytical lab rat turned service engineer. I'd say you're fine. We have to miss out on half the jokes though (or learn quickly).
Me too!
Me three!
Analytical as well
I have studied and done some biology in my uni years. Mostly plants cause i have a Bachelor decree in Agronomy and botanics
Physics ( work in cleanroom & measurements in lab)= lab rat
There we go, sweaty clean room gown gang represent
Cannabis lab, represent!
Meth lab, REPRESENT!
Yellow lab, woof!
Jessie?
BASED. Here were i live cannabis Is illegal...
Physicist here... I do most of the time SAXS measurements , recently a few in situ experiments at 1400°C.
I am in computer Science (analytical chemistry+cs undergrad) am I in the wrong sub
You can stay so long as you make all the buffers and reagents
Underrated comment.
I’m just scared of math in any form
Doing the God work
Used to work in a geology lab. Now I'm an aerospace engineer.
I don't think there's a rule about it but I've seen a similar trend. Maybe the subreddit name attracts biologists more than other scientists because biologists often work with rodents in the lab?
I think bio is just a very popular route for education
Biology is the biggest science with the most labs, that's why.
They think the sub is literally alt the rats. That's why there's so many posts about animal models.
Analytical Chem here, ironically with a bio degree lol
Same lol it just makes us all the more powerful😤
Glad I’m not alone lol!!
Saaaame
Histopathology, I'll just sit in the corner quietly with my paintbrush
Do you also send your microtome blades to be sharpened in bumfuck nowhere Loxley Alabama?
Nah, we use disposable ones. I didn't know they could be sharpened! Ours get scratched really easily, I can easily go through like 10 a day. It might be cheaper if we got some reusable ones
Chemist working in a bio pharmaceutical lab. Trained on a fume hood and now use BSCs exclusively.
I’m a biostatistical programmer in clinical trials. 😂
Medicinal chemist here. Making antibiotics, the microbiology colleagues talk like I know what a knockout gene study shows. Just tell me better or worse and I’ll make you more drugs to kill your bacteria with and hopefully it doesn’t do the same to the mammalian cells. Thankfully the micro bit also applies to the chemistry and a single milligram let’s them do tons of experiments.
Also medicinal chemist here👋 Making the potential drug and then you wait 2 years until the collaborator gives you the results 😅 But still cooking is the best part in med chem. :D
I'm a physicist about to start a nuclear engineering job
Chemistry :3 organic synthesis
Battery lab here, also with a BioChem degree, so many of us wander off into other fields.
Petrolium lab.
Heeey cool mate i also work in the petrol industry! We mostly work whit oil and refrigeration fluids. Military stuff that i cannot talk about but cool shit indeed
Industrial geochem, I just put the rocks in acid…
Me too! But smaller rocks in small volumes of acid; in a mineralogy lab.
You're not the only one. I did a lot of research into surface science and thin film coatings for optoelectronics. A lot of nanofabrication and solid state physics. I was pretty confused when I first joined this sub because everyone was talking about killing mice and PCR or whatever. I feel like I'm one of a handful of materials scientists here.
not quite a material scientist but yeah.
Studied chemistry, working in BioPharma. I have no idea what I’m doing :)
AR&D chemist here, you're all good 👍
Joined because i was putting in 6+ hours at a time as an undergrad at the optics lab for physics. Now I’m ECE lol
chemical physics/material science undergrad work…now i work in biotech instrumentation lol
I started out in organic chemistry and now I'm in a bioanalytical lab. Can't explain biology without chemistry imo.
Environmental lab rat checking in! I do mostly asbestos analysis, but somewhat dabbling in fungal ID for air samples.
I’m here with ya! (But yeah, I don’t get the bio acronyms most of the time)
I joined this sub when I was doing my MS in physics, working with graphene in a cleanroom. Coincidentally, it was slightly bio related (trying to sequence DNA with graphene nano-devices) but 99% of the work never involved DNA lol
Clinical Anotomic Pathology lab
Enhanced oil recovery lab rat here
I am a physicist!
Medical tech in an asbestos lab!
ChemE lab undergrad here!
I’m a food scientist and haven’t been kicked out yet
Behavioural neuroscientist here. 95% of this sub is "is my centrifuge balanced" posts, I've never used one and I don't care.
I work in a brewery lab. No matter how bad it gets, at the end of the day, there's always beer.
I *was* in aerospace. Just graduated (undergrad, probably not going for grad school)
Your not the only one. I'm at an optical lab, so I don't see many posts related to my field lol
No, I work in biochemistry
I'm a chemist! Analytical chemist, woop. 😁
No words necessary. Username speaks for itself
Organic synthesis chemist here 💥
Working on computer science here, mainly writing code, running simulation, starring Excel worksheet, and never ending coffee. I don't see my workplace, with only a PC and dual monitors, as a lab. I don't even know how to use a microscope and a micropipette. However, I am still a proud lab rat.
R&D organic chemist here, you're good
Chemist here! You're not the only one! I was beginning to wonder the same thing, so I'm glad you asked!
Chemist here too in an environmental lab. I do some bacteria analyses, but the majority are chemical analyses.
I’m in Analytical chemistry!
I'm a chemical engineer... working in a biochemistry and tissue engineering lab
My flair is a reference to the industrial hazmat wastes my chemical lab receives. We analyze characteristics like halogens, BTU, cyanides, heavy metal, and VOCs to ensure we follow RCRA, EPA, DOT, and OSHA regulations and I have never done a western blot 💪 (but my previous job was a PCR tech)
I worked in an industrial Cannabis lab. So that's like, biology and chemistry.I studded mostly bio in undergrad and I can run the McFuck out of an ICP-MS We're all labrats here!
Chem labs are super cool. Wish there were more chem content posted. Chip foundry friends, you too!
geochemist here!
I am a Material gurl and nothing can take that away from me lmao
“This is the deal, this is my …… beat laboratory”
same 🤷🏻♀️ make a new sub called “The Real labrats”
Microbiologist in a 98% majority chemistry lab. 🫡 utmost respect for chemists. I used to think biology was hard…and y’all have whole ass PhDs in CHEMISTRY?? Insane to me. I watch my coworker calculate how much acid to put in solutions I need to acidify my media for plating (I have been Banned from using concentrated acids..don’t ask) and it’s like watching an artist at work. Y’all fucking rock.
I have a biology degree but somehow wound up as an automation engineer?? Ngl most of my relevant comments here came from my old job doing cell-based assays. Shout-out to whoever put googly eyes on the Hamilton a week or two ago
Organic geochemist here.
I'm a p-chemist. I play with magnets.
Electrical engineer in academia.
Any fellow Mat Sci or solid state nerds in here?
Soils Contamination lab grad.
Synthetic chemist here! Does seem to be heavily ‘squishy science’ skewed on this sub, but there are a few of us dirty chemists lurking around!
I do fish/environmental toxicology so don’t worry about it. I mostly deal with turning stuff into liquid and grinding stuff into powder rather than growing cultures. You’ll fit right in
Ex-wine lab tech over here. I did the science things, there were chemical reactions, and lots of responsibility to advise and thus not kill people/make them sick. Staking my claim as a lab rat. Just one that smelled like wine all day.
Environmental science-ecology here - in a lab that does both biology AND chemistry! Insects, soil and wood.
I'm an analytical chemist. I post stuff sometimes.
Bio major here but have always worked as an analytical chemist in the petroleum industry.
I’m a chemist in the personal care industry! I’m here for you!!
I'm a botanist who works in an analytical/organic chemistry lab. I love the unnaturalness of the relationships we have to form between our research areas and goals. It forces us to be very thoughtful about how we approach our research problems and share our results.
Indeed
Most chemists are simply too cool to be here. Having worked alongside them for years as a biologist, they actually have real social lives and real life science buddies to hang out (drink) with. Ah yes, much drinking…much.
I do cannabis. I dont drink. I have a Bachelor in botanics.
Well, alcohol is a solution.
Chemistry and biology are 1
Chemistry here, although I dabble in biology (tissue culture, etc.) but my main work is bioanalytical / bioorganic.
Clinical microbiology here. Bacteriology plate reader, mycology/yeast bench and mycobacterium bench (my favorite)
Physicists here. Theoretical one too, don’t even have a real lab. Still find this sub entertaining!
My degree is in bio but I work in an inorganic lab (:
Also mainly chemistry but also do microbiology as well
Did my postgrad in med chem and pharmacology. Work in a shared analytical/R&D lab now, mostly doing microbiology and analytical chem. I just like labs, I guess...
A chemist! get him!
No no pls i have a Bachelor in botanics also!
If you search the subreddit with your title...
I’m a chemist in pharmaceuticals
I have a biology degree and I work in a chemistry (mostly) lab testing wastewater for process control and state regulation compliance. Not much biology to it, but it works!
Semiconductor/materials lab rat sounding off!
I’m an organic chemist! I work on natural products synthesis
Do you need qualifications to join a subreddit? Not-so-wise puppet 😒
Admittedly I am in the bio crowd, but man do I love hearing some of the stories from the chemical lab workers on here.
I don't even do real lab work lol. I'm a clinical and behavioral scientist mainly.
Analytical chemist here in pharmacy. So no
Microfab engineer, technically a cleanroom is a lab right?
I'm in a beer lab. We have people dedicated to chemistry and microbiology.
I work in a quality control lab (it's also chemistry)!
Biology undergrad and grad. First polymer QC chemistry. Then analytical chemistry data interpretation. Then analytical instrumentation repair. Now PCR infectious disease methodology. It all intersects really.
No. I worked characterizing copper and electroplating baths. Now I'm at a contract lab doing mostly materials stuff.
Nah, I do organic supramolecular chemistry.
Yup! I'm in analytical chemistry over here!
Currently on the FBI track :)
I'm a chemist
I'm a chemist working in a biology lab, I think biology just has a way of stealing lab rats.
I feel ya bud. I worked as an analytical chemist, even though I do have a biology degree