CHEN LAB
Insectary
Aphids are extremely small insects that can often be found airborne, particularly during the spring season. To protect our plants from unwanted pests and to ensure our aphid colonies remain uncontaminated, we enforce strict operational protocols within the insectary. The good news is that, thanks to these efforts, we have successfully avoided pest infestations for four consecutive years!
This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and cooperation of our entire team. Maintaining such high standards can be challenging at times, and we truly appreciate everyone’s commitment and teamwork in making this possible. Thank you all for your hard work and collaboration!
Clip-cages
Clip cages, inspired by Jucelaine Hass’s innovative design (paper), are constructed using foam-floating tubes.
Previously, clip cages were made with heavy clips, which often damaged leaves and introduced significant bias into molecular experiments. Additionally, aphids frequently escaped from these older designs, further compromising the accuracy of the results.
The new lightweight clip cages have revolutionized the experimental process. They are not only easier to handle but also effectively prevent aphids from escaping, ensuring more reliable and consistent data.
We believe Jucelaine Hass, the first author of this groundbreaking work, deserves recognition for the contributions—perhaps should win an Aphid Nobel Prize.
玩蚜虫黄金三规则
Three golden rules of handling aphids
1.全面清理试验台和刷子等工具
Thoroughly clean up the bench, tools, bushes, etc.
2. 一次只开一个虫笼
Open one cage at a time.
3. 保持足够的距离，如果不同的实验同时进行
Keep sufficient distance if different experiments are running at the same time.
Aphid biology
Blackman & Eastop’s Aphids on the World’s Plants
Aphid identification: characteristics of World genera
Recommended books
Giant aphid scientists
Gexia Qiao (乔格侠)
Yucheng Sun (孙玉诚)
Julian Chen (陈巨莲)
Jin-Jun Wang(王进军)
Peijin Li(李培金)
Cross-kingdom RNA scientists
Xuemei Chen(陈雪梅)
Hailing Jin(金海翎)
Jianqiang Wu(吴建强)
Hui-Shan Guo(郭惠珊)
Bioinformatic tools
TBtools (Victorinox-knife in bioinfomatics)
iTOL (Interactive Tree Of Life)
MEME (motif elicitation)
MG2C (drawing genetic maps)
CyVerse (Cloud-based computing)
BioRender (Scientific Image and Illustration Software)
siDirect (specific siRNA)
dsRNA Engineer (comprehensive dsRNA design)
WWD3(Web MicroRNA Designer)