WORKSHOP IN BIOMEDICINE: ASSIGNMENT

Goals & Instructions

The goal of this assignment is for you to write down a scientific paper based on the
results contained in the lab notebook that you´ll find attached.

The lab notebook contains all the experiments and results performed by a researcher
(Jane Doe) during several months. Your task here is to :

a) Identify those results that should be included in the manuscript

b) Elaborate the figures , charts and tables required for a good presentation of
these results

c) Write down all the sections of the paper, Title, abstract, introduction,
materials and methods, results and discussion

d) Incorporate the appropriate references when required

Once you have completed the paper, submit it through the application and it will be
ready for grading. The deadline for receiving papers is January 10th 2024 . On the 11th
the submission system will close automatically, and you will not be submit any longer.

Format of the paper

The journal you are submitting your paper to only admits manuscripts with 4
figures/tables, and a maximum extension of 10 pages. Select carefully what results are
you going to incorporate in these 4 figures / tables to convey in the best way possible
the message of the paper.

You can use any font you want, but the minimum size of the font is 11.

How to proceed

Because this is a long assignment (3 months) and it has an open format it is likely that
you will feel confused at the beginning. Try first to understand what Jane was doing,
reading the appropriate literature references. This will help you in two ways:

i) It will give you some understanding on the problems she was dealing with,
and you will eventually understand the rationale of her research. This is
likely to take you some time since the topics/techniques that she employs
are, most likely, completely new to you. This is totally intentional: when you
 start your research you will have to face new topics/ methods on your own
and use the literature to build up your understanding. This is the hardest
part of the assignment and it is possible that it will take you a long time.
Don´t get frustrated.

ii) Jane does a general introduction on every topic or technique she uses, but
she is not intending to give you a class. Use the links she provides as a
introduction to the methods, but perform your own literature review. The
papers that you find during this search will be the ones that you will cite
when you write the paper. Getting into a new field is always hard, try to go
for the Reviews first.

Regarding the methods she uses, they are pretty standard, but chances are high that
you´ve never heard from some of them before. It is not necessary for you to become a
master in all the methods that Jane uses, but a general glimpse of the way they work
will be essential for you to write down the materials and methods section.

Once you have a general understanding on the research that Jane performed, try to
identify the major results that she obtained. Then elaborate the figures/charts/ tables
that you think are most appropriate for conveying the message. Always start on the
figures. From the Figures write down the results, then introduction and finally
discussion. Materials and Methods can be written as the last part.

Some tips

- We have left a presentation on How to Write a Scientific Paper that will be

useful for you. Go through it before you start your writing

- The best way to gain a glimpse on how papers are written is to read papers! Try
to look for papers speaking of relaxases and see how they write down their
results. Then copy their style! The best model paper that you can find is the one
that has performed a research program as close as possible as the one Jane did.

- Remember that a paper is not aimed at showing your understanding. Don´t try
to write a paper to show off how much you have learned about protein
purification, mutant construction or bacterial conjugation. This is not the goal
of this assignment. The goal is to write a paper for the audience that would be
interested: in this case people caring about bacterial conjugation. Avoid
preaching to the choir!

- Remember this is a LONG assignment. If , by chance, you are familiar with the
research performed by Jane you may be able to complete the assignment in a
few hours. Chances are , however, that you need to read a lot about the
methods she employs and the problems she works with. This is not a defect of
the assignment. This is the GOAL of the assignment. All your research from now
on will be like this.
-