Attached are images of western blots - the results of a common test to detect proteins in biological samples - from a published research paper. She checks her e-mails on a giant 34-inch curved monitor, and takes a closer look at the Belgian message. Today’s first request is from a researcher in Belgium: “Hi! I know you have a lot of people asking you to use your magic powers to analyse figures, blots and others but I just wanted to ask your opinion…”Īfter pouring a cup of coffee, Bik sits down at the long, wooden dining table that serves as her workstation at her home in California. February the fourteenth starts like most other days for Elisabeth Bik: checking her phone in bed, she scrolls through a slew of Twitter notifications and private messages from scientists seeking her detective services.