Advancing molecular biology through open research
Choosing a PhD lab is one of the highest-stakes decisions of your scientific career, yet most applicants ask only surface-level questions. Drawing on candid conversations with current members and alumni, we offer five questions that cut through the brochure language.
Behind every published figure sits a freezer that has never blinked. Here is how McKnight Lab organizes cryostorage, redundancy, and disaster recovery so that a single mechanical failure never erases years of work.
Open research is often framed as an ethical obligation, but the practical case is just as compelling. Here are five concrete habits — from preprinting to public code — that help American academic labs collaborate faster, get cited more, and compete for funding.
What actually happens between a research idea and a published paper? We walk students through every stage of the experimental process at McKnight Lab, including the pilot assays, the troubleshooting sessions, and the failures that never make it into the final figures.