You can take a geneticist out of the lab...

...but it's harder to take the lab out of the genetecist.

The morning routine here involves me making a cappucino for the Real Doctor. The standard recipe for this drink is one third espresso, one third steamed milk, and one third milk foam, which is exactly how the Real Doctor likes it: 10 ml espresso, 10 ml milk, and 10 fluid ounces of foam.

This last week, we had a bottle of milk that just would not produce satisfactory foam. This morning I opened up a fresh bottle of milk, and whoosh! excellent foam. Groggy though I was, my first thought was "hmmm...is there a foam inhibitor present in the old bottle, or is it lacking a necessary reagent for foam, one that's present in the new bottle?"

So, more or less on genetics autopilot, I made a heterozygous diploid by combining the two milks, and tried to steam it up. It would not foam at all. So, it looks like there's a foam inhibitor in the old bottle.

My next thought as a geneticist was "My work here is done. Give it to a biochemist to identify the inhibitor." The thought after that was about my own cocoa.

Disclaimer--of course there are other options, but this is 6:30 AM genetics autopilot.