Background:
Interdisciplinary projects are in fashion. Nowadays, most of the top universities in the world offer “interdisciplinary” doctorate programs. It seems that becoming a specialist in a particular field is not enough to progress in science. Now, students must prove their ability to understand and be proficient in different areas. Why study only Chemistry if you can combine it with Statistics, Programming and Biology? The more tools and concepts you can play with the better.
But where is the limit? That is the question the main character asked himself a couple of months ago when he decided to come back to the lab during his PhD in Bioinformatics (actually, it’s a PhD in Statistics but let’s keep it simple).
Synopsis:
Javy McPardy is a second year PhD student with a standard life and a regular project in Bioinformatics (not too good, not too bad, just the usual profile). One day, his supervisor suggests him to carry out some experiments in the lab (in the real lab, with real plants and pipettes). During his undergrad, he had already acquired some “wet lab” experience so a priori it seemed to be a good idea. So there he goes: back to the lab!
There, in that strange dimension, he faces some problems. He has been advised not to touch anything in the wrong way or in the wrong place. Any mistaken step could provoke terrible contaminations in the experiments. And he would have to start over. SPOILER: That happens more than once and more than twice. He discovers that running electrophoresis gels for longer than required is not a good idea. Same as not labelling the plates or not keeping the growth media sterile. He learns all this thanks to a more senior colleague that highlights his errors every time she approaches. But she does it with good intention, which makes her one of the most lovely characters in the film.
There are some funny scenes as when Javy has to re-plant 180 pea plants over a weekend because the control samples were contaminated. Or when he has to count one by one all the nodules (see photo) of all his plants. However, during this last task, he manages to get the help of two amazing German-speakers: one of them with a great and weird sense of humour (which makes the whole experience more enjoyable), and the other one with an unbelievable motivation to work (which makes our character a bit jealous).
At the end of the film, Javy realises that he has spent in the lab much more time than expected because of the unexpected situations he has had to deal with – at this point he wishes he was in “Back to the Future” and he could travel through time. In addition, he still does not know if the data he has collected during the last 8 months will be useful to his project. This situation makes him wonder, again: The more tools and concepts you can play with the better. But where is the limit?
Rating:
