This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
How I wish I had a wonderful science Nobel Prize music video in honor of today's announcement of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology. Instead, I will feature a video about a piece of equipment that might be useful for those who do a lot of molecular biology, including those trying to understand the immune system, as this year's winners have done.
Today's video is an advertisement. I don't mind highlighting the cleverness of companies that can hire the right people to sell a product to their target audience, and give a glimpse into the world of science by adding elements that purveyors of pop culture will appreciate.
Eppendorf features a boy band serenading a young female researcher who is in danger of succumbing to repetitive strain in her hand in this catchy video. With any luck they will woo her (and other viewers) into purchasing their automatic pipetting machine, epMotion.
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As someone who has done quite a bit of mammalian cell culture and much pipetting into well plates, I find myself giggling when they say "Well, well, well" as a way to emphasize the repetitiveness of the pipetting practice!
And maybe I get a bit indignant when they toss expensive micropipettors into the sand!
There are more videos by the same creative agency that produced this one and I will feature them in the near future. (Can you say PCR and GTCA? oh, yes!)