This one stretches the limit of what counts as a science cartoon. It sneaks in because it was drawn in response to all the tick box exercises that increasingly take up valuable research time for no real purpose. Often it stems from a well-meaning and important reason but this slowly erodes over time, becoming lost […]
You have to have suffered the torment of Western blotting to appreciate this cartoon and it’s nigh on impossible to really explain the job to someone who hasn’t. Although please feel free to have a go below. Western blotting is integral to almost any experiment that involves proteins whether it’s validating an antibody, the success […]
This is another of the ‘In a real lab‘ series. I enjoy drawing them although they are ridiculously niche and not exactly going to go viral. I’ve not even bothered putting it on any merchandise although if you would like it on a card, note book, poster or even a bedspread let me know and […]
This was the first cartoon I tweeted that seemed to strike a chord. I’ve mentioned the inequities of the grant system elsewhere and maybe one day will flesh this out into something more coherent. Regardless of how well it works, all of us in academia are trapped in it. Looking at now, a lot of […]
Science is supposed to be objective and meritocratic, any scientist knows that it is far from that and the grant writing process is a prime example. Naturally if you step out of line and criticise it then it must be sour grapes because you didn’t get funded. I’ve thought many times about writing a blog […]
Several of my cartoons fit under the theme of ‘In a real lab…’ The idea works two ways: to show how mundane things in a lab can be, despite the wonders of science. In return to take some of the slightly absurd routines and even superstitions of the lab and apply them to popular culture […]
Anyone who has worked in a lab will know that there are certain benches where all the equipment seems to end up. In my lab I tried to get a balance: as far as possible everyone had their own set of pipettes, dissecting kit, timer – things that you need all the time and/or are […]
Any views expressed here on atomic physics are purely amateur. My opinions on cell culture however come from years of experience, good and bad. The thrill of successfully growing and then filming a dish of neurons was always special. The frustration of an infection in a cell line or a tissue culture facility never really […]