͵͵

Essay

Water, you say?

Sephra Rampersad
By Sephra Rampersad
Oct. 10, 2024

I hurried to the train station on a bleak winter morning. As I navigated patches of ice on the cobble-stone walkways, my breath blooming like frosty little clouds in front of my face, I remember thinking, “Why would anyone from a tropical island decide to take on a workshop in England in the dead of winter?” Biochemists like a challenge, I suppose?

I was visiting Oxford University for the first time and was excited to participate in a discussion on quality assurance in the laboratory. Our lead facilitator was Sandy Primrose who has authored more than a dozen textbooks on gene manipulation. Among us older-generation biochemists, he was the greatest of all time — an honest-to-goodness GOAT.

Sephra Rampersad waits at a train station during her visit to the UK.
Sephra Rampersad
Sephra Rampersad waits at a train station during her visit to the UK.

I had a two-hour commute to the university from where I was staying near Camden. The workshop started just as I entered the lecture room in Ewert House. I was set.

At one point, Primrose asked the group to identify the one critical component that could make or break your experiment in any lab. Our answers varied as we considered every possible villainous character in the lab — from people to reagents to equipment to money. All were reasonable responses, but none of those were the answer our facilitator was looking for.

His gave us a hint: It’s in every single reaction we would ever prepare in the lab.

Water is the key to success.

Water, you say? The chemically inert solvent containing one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms with a neutral charge is a biochemist’s nightmare?

Exactly. Let me explain why.

Water quality and the methods used to purify it are important to a successful reaction, more so the ones in molecular biology that are driven by enzymes that utilize divalent cations as cofactors. And sometimes, water contains cations that an enzyme should do without.

We must rinse glassware in pure or ultra-pure water to remove traces of detergents that can interfere with serological reactions. Water used in the lab must be free of particulate, ionic, organic and microbial contaminants.

High-quality water ensures minimal carry-over and residue contamination during cuvette and probe washing, increases reagent stability, improves accuracy and precision in pipetting, and results in greater accuracy in spectrophotometric readings.

Among the gold standards of testing is reproducibility and high water quality plays an integral role in achieving reproducible results. The most basic necessity for life is also the basic necessity for my life as a researcher.

As the day ended, I made my way over the bridge to the train station once more; only this time, snow flurries kept me company during my walk, so fragile they melted as soon as they touched the warmer ground. Street lamps illuminated my route and turned the melting snow and ice into shimmering pools. Water, in all its forms, was all around me, and now I was paying attention.

Read more

Read more articles and essays about our ASBMB Molecule of the year.

Water takes center stage Danielle Guarracino remembers the role water played at two moments in her life, one doing scary experiments and one facing a health scare.

What I’ve learned about water, aging and protein quality control  Alice Liu thought an increase in heat shock protein chaperones would prevent misfolding in Huntington’s disease proteins. The results surprised her, and water was the key.

The subtle strength of hydrogen bonds Indu Sridharan remembers how water complicated her atomic force microscopy imaging studies of collagen.

The teaching power of water “I questioned whether children would be very interested in this exercise; there wasn’t much to it.” At an outreach event, Jessica Desamero learns that three cups of water can convey complex science.

Water rescues the enzyme “Sometimes you must bend the rules to get what you want.” In the case of using water in the purification of calpain-2, Dorothy Croall writes, it was worth the risk. 

There are worse things in the water than E. coli E. coli levels determined whether Olympic swimmers could dive into the Seine this past summer. But are these bacteria the best proxy for water contamination? Andrea Luis investigates.

͵͵ impressions of water as cuneiform cascade Inspired by "the most elegant depiction of H2O’s colligative features," Thomas Gorrell created a seven-tiered visual cascade of Sumerian characters beginning with the ancient sign for water.

Virtual issue celebrates water in ASBMB journals Check out a dozen gold open-access articles covering exciting research about the society’s 2024 Molecule of the Year.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.

Learn more
Sephra Rampersad
Sephra Rampersad

Sephra Rampersad is a senior lecturer in biochemistry at the University of the West Indies and an ASBMB Today volunteer contributor.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Opinions

Opinions highlights or most popular articles

Where do we search for the fundamental stuff of life?
Essay

Where do we search for the fundamental stuff of life?

Dec. 1, 2024

Recent books by Thomas Cech and Sara Imari Walker offer two perspectives on where to look for the basic properties that define living things.

Scientists around the world report millions of new discoveries every year
Essay

Scientists around the world report millions of new discoveries every year

Nov. 24, 2024

Science is a collaborative endeavor, and international teams have contributed to a huge rise in scientific output.

Who decides when a grad student graduates?
Training

Who decides when a grad student graduates?

Nov. 15, 2024

Ph.D. programs often don’t have a set timeline. Students continue with their research until their thesis is done, which is where variability comes into play.

Redefining ‘what’s possible’ at the annual meeting
President's Message

Redefining ‘what’s possible’ at the annual meeting

Nov. 1, 2024

The ASBMB Annual Meeting is “a high-impact event — a worthwhile investment for all who are dedicated to advancing the field of biochemistry and molecular biology and their careers.”

͵͵ impressions of water as cuneiform cascade*
Essay

͵͵ impressions of water as cuneiform cascade*

Oct. 31, 2024

Inspired by "the most elegant depiction of H2O’s colligative features," Thomas Gorrell created a seven-tiered visual cascade of Sumerian characters beginning with the ancient sign for water.

Water rescues the enzyme
Essay

Water rescues the enzyme

Oct. 31, 2024

“Sometimes you must bend the rules to get what you want.” In the case of using water in the purification of calpain-2, it was worth the risk.