A paper submitted - A new assay to measure mitosis

The measure of productivity in science is publications. One really only gets things done when the research is published.  Today, we submitted a manuscript describing a new method to measure the activity of the enzyme Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1).  This is an important enzyme; it drive cells into mitosis (cell division).  The discovery of Cdk1 and its components led to the Nobel prize awarded in 2001 to Drs Sir Tim Hunt and Sir Paul Nurse.  Other methods to measure Cdk1 activity require the use of radioactive reagents, which are difficult to use, expensive, and dangerous if handled incorrectly.  Our new method requires antibodies, an engineered protein that we made, and western blotting equipment.  Most of the materials are commonly found in cell biology laboratories and we will provide the protein to those who request it.

 

The work was done by a sequence of undergraduate students from the University of Lethbridge, all contributing to the status of "Best Undergraduate Research University of 2012".  All have moved on to better things science related.  To those interested in a pre-print, please let me know.