Biotechniques

Most journals you read in the lab are geared to your speciality These journals have research articles that are reviewed by panels of scientists in the discipline and are publications for advances in science. But "Biotechniques" was ground-breaking in that it published articles on the "how" of science rather than the "what" or "why" of science. The articles are peer-reviewed, but they focus more on applied science, techniques and methods. Articles might feature information about using new instrumentation, or new chemistry, reagents, or a way of doing a particular assay in a new method. It's also a good place to find out about new products and reagents.

If you do bench science in biotech, this magazine could be a valued addition to your monthly mailbox. It's not a research magazine in the usual sense. Instead, it presents small advances that you may be able take back to the lab and use immediately. They're practical, pointed, and presented in specific detail. Some times, they're so specific that they address the performance of specific vendors' instruments or reagents. This is truly a goldmine of hard-working information.

The problem with a commercial goldmine these days is that you have to move about a tonne of ore to get a gram of gold. Likewise, these reports offer pinpoint coverage over the whole map of biotech and if your work isn't exactly at one of those pinpoints, then it's probably a clean miss. There are occasional articles on computation techniques my main interest, but something that no biotech worker can wholly ignore. As with the wet-science articles, the computing reports are very pragmatic. I have to admit, I'm more interested in fundamental algorithms than in rough answers based on clever Perl scripts organizing people's tools and data.

This looks like a great magazine for people solving daily problems in bio/chem labs. Maybe not this month or next but sooner or later, it's bound to have a tip that works for you if you're the right kind of reader. I'm just not.

//wiredweird

PS: Don't let the exaggerated list price put you off. You'll probably see a Biotechniques booth at some trade show some time soon, and you'll find a much better price. One extra rating star for being very affordable.

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