Just ordered 100 euros worth of kit that apparently doesnt work well! - Help!!!! PhD student on the verge of......being fired maybe (Dec/12/2008 )

Uh Oh...


well since my total RNA isolation with the mirVana kit is working so well (nice amounts, no apparent contamination) and I found the kit used for the miRNAs that im interested in I discussed it with my boss and ordered the ambion miRNA rt-PCR kit and super taq polymerase, minus the primers thank god becuase I couldnt decide what to use for normalisation (they offer U6 and 5S)and how it worked at all to be quite honest with you.

So today im bored and googling and it turns out that this kit isnt optimal and that the ABI one is much better, and U6 isnt a miRNA so it really shouldnt be used for normalisation. And also that it might not detect mature miRNAS but pre ones?? Awwwwwwwwww 600 euros....

Im really lost here, which is kinda good and exciting coz theres a lot to learn but my boss was very adament about how we would discuss every thing i pippetted for this RT-PCR because it was so expensive and if I get a kit that gives unstable results and takes months to optimize she might not be very happy, specially coz she doesnt like me and the only reason im here is because ive managed to get good results on some things.

Can someone please help me out and maybe I can enjoy my weekend and run to the secretary on monday and ask her to erase my order somehow.

yikes!!!!!!!

Ouch! Have you used/opened the kit yet? Maybe you can try and send it back? But although 600 euros is a lot, I think that the most expensive thing is your time! So it's probably best to just get the TaqMan stuff, if you can.

Hey,
Ambion and AB is the same company now. You can give them a call, explain the situation and see if they can cancel your order if it did not ship yet or maybe you can return the kit to them when it arrives and they can credit you towards other products.

so i got fored today, not for ordering the kit but for sending an email asking for help in Q-PCR or asking people for their expertise that same as I did here basically.

Boss said that it made it look like i wasnt being supervised properly and also the fact that i mentioned that i bought the kit but had second thoughts about what i was ordering.......well that it said that things were chaotic in the lab and that I should have come to her blabla

I said I didnt understand what the big deal was and that she was right communication was bad between us and that was that.

I asked about my work and she said that was good but that she had had bad experiences in the past and she wasnt as tolerant as before.

Uhm yeah the two PhDs that left think shes incompetent and weird.

The freaky thing is the same day this happens i get an invitation for a PhD programme.

I really think its the best, i didnt feel comfortable here and I hated the city, and she was just too weird. I dont know why she would think I shouldtn write an email asking other PhDs for their expertise when she herself told me that she had done Q-PCR years ago but didnt have much experience.

neways, strange day