Wow @suesa from the few posts that I have read from you (I just started over a month ago) I assumed you were doing graduate work. Good luck on your bachelor's thesis write up (and defence if you have one)!

Yes troubleshooting is a big part of research and constant negative results can really push someone to the point where they drop out of wet lab research. I have seen this many times, but those who persevere always turn out to be excellent scientists. Like you say, it might be just like steemit blogging! lol.
Cheers!
Ian