Really cool T-shirts...!!!

http://www.cafepress.com/

Bioinformatics

I don't like you =(

Fight Aids at Home

If you leave your laptop/computer on for hours on end and its mostly on screensaver mode anyway, take a look at this World Community Grid and consider joining it and downloading the software! Even if you don't leave it on for the entire day, you could download and run it too. Every bit counts =)

Less than 36 hours to freedom. Unlike half a year ago, I'm not going anywhere after the exams, which might explain a distinct lack of excitement of what the end of exams entail. In fact, apart from mugging somemore (french test and self teaching of o level physics - its only O levels! I can do this...!!!!) and leisure reading and watching Grey's Anatomy season3, I don't know what else to do. (Excluding co camp) Oh, and replotting how else I can return to montréal if my application for sep falls through again next semester, which is highly likely given the sudden interest in mcgill. Summer school? Language school? When? Costs?

Back to bioinformatics.

alice in chemistryland.

As expected, 2500 paper was rubbishy. Good thing I didn't spend much time studying for it.

There was this question worth 12 marks. 5 lines.


"In Lewis Caroll's 'Alice in Wonderland', Alice tells her cat 'Looking-glass milk isn't good to drink'.

If Alice knows Chemistry, explain what she means by 'looking-glass milk'."


WHA I'M SURE I KNOW THE ANSWER. ITS 42!!!!! (The answer to all of life's questions, as stated in Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy. -_-")

No one seems to know the definite answer to it, judging from the number of people who asked the setter to elaborate "You'd have to figure it out yourself! - smirk-" and the fact that the folks to my right, left and diagonal left that space blank until they had completed the last question. I really wonder how I'd fare for this module, you know, its really exciting, because I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE.



And cell bio was evil. There were giveaway questions, and seriously messed up ones. I don't recall struggling through a 100% MCQ paper ever, until today. The saddest thing is that I actually studied the hardest so far. Oh well, I know I really did my best, and so its now up to God to do the rest! =)

Cry+++

I hope that me feeling so messed up with regards to cell biology is just my pessimistic self speaking, because if I am as screwed up as I feel, my paper in 13 hours time is just gonna be great.

And the reading week draws to a close...

feeling tired, grouchy, slightly nervous and mildly depressed. And bloated. And ache-y.

And did I mention that I woke up this morning with a sore butt? My butt cheek felt as though I've been exercising, which is an obvious joke because the only exercise it has done so far is endurance training - the Sit-Down-And-Mug-For-As-Long-As-You-Can kind.

Printed around $5 worth of notes and readings and whatever not for 2 open book exams (over and above what I have printed during the course of the semester already.) I am feeling the pinch on my wallet and the environment, as it is safe to say that I will probably thrash these papers the moment the exams end.

This time next week, I'd be free. Until the results come out, that is.

I haven't started on Grey's 3rd season but I am watching the season4 episodes every week. (Rationale being that they're only out once a week, so I won't waste a huge chunk of time at one go as opposed to starting on season 3.) This week's is pretty depressing. And intense, compared to the previous few. Maybe my mild depression at this point in time's due to this episode.

I think I think too much. And I'm getting a wee bit too fat. And I'm doing quite a few of the "And ____" sentences. Which should stop, or I can so see where my SS paper is going to head. Which I haven't started for, by the way, because of lovely, lovely cell biology.

To Sleep, I'd like.

Beyond the Sea

Somewhere beyond the sea,
Somewhere, waiting for me,
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing;

Somewhere beyond the sea,
He's (She's) there watching for me.
If I could fly like birds on high,
Then straight to his (her) arms I'd go sailing.

It's far beyond a star,
It's near beyond the moon,
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon.

We'll meet beyond the shore,
We'll kiss just as before.
Happy we'll be beyond the sea,
And never again I'll go sailing!

Because mugging obeys LDMR.

Blogging frequency seems to go up during exam time. I wonder why.

So here's a classic photo (I think)
Right.

HEHE.

Goodbye England, we won't see you at Euro 2008 MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

But Czech Republic now qualifies top of Group D after Germany drew 0-0 with Wales. Zzz. Well at least they were the first team to qualify.

Stem cell breakthrough.

Skin transformed into stem cells

Human skin cells have been reprogrammed by two groups of scientists to mimic embryonic stem cells with the potential to become any tissue in the body.

The breakthrough promises a plentiful new source of cells for use in research into new treatments for many diseases.

Crucially, it could mean that such research is no longer dependent on using cells from human embryos, which has proved highly controversial.

The US and Japanese studies feature in the journals Science and Cell.

The induced cells do all the things embryonic stem cells do - its going to completely change the field Professor James Thomson University of Wisconsin-Madison

Until now only cells taken from embryos were thought to have an unlimited capacity to become any of the 220 types of cell in the human body - a so-called pluripotent state.

But campaigners have objected to their use on the grounds that it is unethical to destroy embryos in the name of science.

In the US only limited use of embryonic stem cells is allowed by scientists receiving public funding.

The Japanese team used a chemical cocktail containing just four gene-controlling proteins to transform adult human fibroblasts - skin cells that are easy to obtain and grow in culture - into a pluripotent state.

The cells created were similar, but not identical, to embryonic stem cells, and the researchers used them to produce brain and heart tissue.

After 12 days in the laboratory clumps of cells grown to mimic heart muscle tissue started beating.

The US team, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, achieved the same effect by using a slightly different combination of chemicals.

They have created eight new stem cell lines for potential use in research.

Cloning superceded

Using skin cells should mean that treatments could be personalised for individual patients, minimising the risk of rejection.

Not only does the new technique remove the need to create embryos in the lab, it is also more simple, and more precisely controlled than current cloning technology.

Professor Ian Wilmut, of the University of Edinburgh, who led the team which created Dolly the sheep in 1996, has said it represents a significant advance.

However, the researchers have warned more work is needed to refine the process, and ensure its safety.

At present both techniques rely on viruses to introduce new material into the cells, which carries a potential risk.

Researcher Professor James Thomson said: "The induced cells do all the things embryonic stem cells do.

"It's going to completely change the field."

Dr Shinya Yamanaka, of Kyoto University, a member of the Japanese research team, said: "These cells should be extremely useful in understanding disease mechanisms and screening effective and safe drugs."

Positive reaction

Professor Azim Surani, of the University of Cambridge, said the research should allow scientists to create a large range of human stem cell types, which could prove invaluable in studying disease.

He said: "It is relatively easy to grow an entire plant from a small cutting, something that seems inconceivable in humans.

"Yet this study brings us tantalisingly close to using skin cells to grow many different types of human tissues.

Dr Lyle Armstrong, of the International Centre For Life at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, called the studies a "major development".

He said: "Although it is early days for this technique it may well prove to be every bit as significant as the first derivation of human embryonic stem cells nine years ago."

Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, of the Medical Research Council's National Institute For Medical Research, said the work was exciting, but work was required to end the reliance on viruses, and to tease out why two different techniques produced similar results.

Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: "News that embryonic stem cells can be created successfully from human cells without cloning, without using human embryos or human eggs, or without getting involved in the creation of animal-human embryos, is most warmly welcomed.

"We congratulate these world-class scientists who have had the courage to state their change of tack so cogently."

TECHNIQUES FOR MAKING 'STEM CELLS'

Therapeutic cloning produces stem cells which can develop into different types of body cell, making them ideal for research into treatment of disease.

But this technology involves the creation and destruction of embryos, which is ethically controversial. The stem cells created also run the risk of being rejected by the body.

The new technology, nuclear reprogramming, creates stem-like cells from the patient's own cells, avoiding both these problems.

from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7101834.stm

Caffeineeeee

I have a sudden, ridiculous craving for starbucks coffee.

-------

Do relatively well for CAs, and fear inability to continue performance at finals.

Do terribly for CAs, and worry that performance at finals is not sufficient to pull up grade.

In short, ARGH.

and so I whine..

Bad bad bad.

I need acinetobacter to get out of my life so that I can start mugging for the nightmare that is 2103. Argh. And politics. And the chem module, which I'm not doing too well in either. And 2104, because the CA was SO messed up. Seriously.

Creaky.

My abdomen's been making creaking noises for the entire day, its annoying. And disturbing. And embarrassing.

2104's due tmr and I think I'm the rate determining step for the completion of the report. And I'm very scared that the conclusions I'm making for the group for this paper are wrong. Unlike 2201 where I was mostly confident of what I was talking about, I still feel like I'm groping around in the dark for this paper, trying to find the switch that will illuminate everything.

Just keep working. Just keep working. Just keep working.

My LSM week

I just realised that, thanks to 2103, 2201 and 2104, I haven't done a whit of French this week.

All the same, 2 weeks to 29th November!

Adopt a Microbe.

You do know you're making my life miserable, don't you?


From adoptamicrobe.blogspot.com

A farewell.

Goodbye, rat liver cytosolic malate dehydrogenase. It has been quite a journey, with multiple mess-ups along the way. Sometimes it seems as though its Revenge of the Liver-less (and dead) Rat. (Your portrait on the SDS gel photo shows one - fighter to the end, aren't you?)

I proof-read my report 4 freakin' times, so if there are any typos and errors and what not, its meant to be.

Sitting in Arts having lunch (uh huh, at 5.15pm) and just listening to the conversation of the 2 girls at the next table speaking in German.


Deutsch, ich vermisse dich! hahaha..

Report writing

2201: Tis both easier and harder than I thought.

I thought the final electrophoresis step went really well, because we had really nice clear distinct bands for all the gels. And they corresponded. And then when I was consolidating all the information to start on the report proper, I realised that the SDS result was NOT supposed to correspond with everything else because the protein should have been denatured.

That's the bad part. And after an hour or so of trawling the net, I can explain what might have happened. Interesting, really, but I'd rather not have my results spring surprises like this on me. Imagine if nobody caught it. ><

I'm still wondering if I should take microbiology next sem or wait till I'm in y3 since it is, after all, a level3000 module.

My mum and brother are really keen on going on a cruise at the end of the year, but I don't share the enthusiasm because it'd be my 3rd time aboard Superstar Virgo and there really isn't anything much or new to see. My dad's headed off to Vietnam/Cambodia and I'm starting to think that it'd be interesting to go there! Anyone? (not WITH my dad, just around the same time period.)

2103 test

What a disaster. I overheard some people discussing answers immediately after (as a rule I don't do post test discussions after the hc experience - too traumatizing, though I used to be a big fan of it in ny.) and I realised I created my own receptor pathway. That's 4 marks gone (3 if the marker gives me marks for the first part being correct) out of 32.

Not to mention that due to the overwhelming amount of stuff to memorise and the very little time I actually had, I ended up knowing everything and nothing at the same time. Meaning I could answer the gist of every question, but I couldn't supply details required.

The irony is that I had less trouble with the cell proliferation section than the cell signaling and apoptosis section, which is the exact opposite of my confidence level for the said topics.

Now to churn out 2201 report.

Microbiology

I'm thinking of starting a "Microbe of the Week" feature on this blog. So every week I'd summarise on a little bacterium or virus.

What do you think I should start with? I'm thinking Ebola, because its my favourite virus, but because I'm (on and off) reading a book on TB, I'm tempted to start off with Mycobacterium tuberculosis too. Then again, since I'm having so much fun -cough- with 2104, maybe I could feature Acinetobacter baumannii first.

Bad Hair Day?

Despite it being a glorious day for whoever the scientist that discovered the receptor for wnt signalling, he/she must have really had a bad hair day.

Receptor name: Frizzled

Name of some protein that's attached to Frizzled: Dishevelled


Seriously. There's a protein in cell proliferation notes somewhere that's named Bazooka (cellular equivalent of a rocket launcher...?) and another named Miranda (ah yes, this is starting to sound like an episode of Grey's Anatomy in season2...) and another named Diablo in apoptosis. I guess names like PKA/B/C (protein kinase A/B/C) and cAMP (cyclic adenine monophospate) got a little passé, non?

That aside, I feel so completely unprepared for the test tomorrow. Even worse than the previous CA, which I actually spent the entire mid-sem break on. It has only been 3 days of on-off mugging this time round. I'm not sure, but I think its spelt D-O-O-M.

LOL!!

THE PASSIONATE BACTERIOLOGIST TO HIS LOVE

Come live with me & be my love
Up in the lab… first floor, above:
Where, shrouded in hygienic white.
We’ll potter through the febrile night.

Up here amid the test-tube racks
The centrifuge, the power- pack
I’ll show you botulinous meat
Mutations of a Spirochaete.

Entamoeba’s selfish mission
(Delighting in asexual fission):
And, just to elevate your hair
Some droppings from the Old Grey Mare.
Bacilli with a sunset hue
Will form a little chain for you.
And cocci on a culture plate
Will make your giddy heart gyrate.
You’ll see some eggs infected by
A Virus from a bloodshot eye;
For your delight, my lover doll,
I’ll flourish spleens in alcohol.
With dawn the roosters start to crow:
We’ll make a little fungus grow.
If you dig culture, little dove.
Why, come upstairs and be my love.

from http://microbiologybytes.wordpress.com/

---------------------

According to my 2103 notes on cell proliferation, the keratinised cells of the keratinised layer of skin that flake off from the skin surface after a month from its initial birth in the basal layer of the human skin is the main constituent of household dust.

Cool, isn't it? Everytime you vacuum up dust, you're vacuuming up pieces of you.

La Vie en Rose

Des yeux qui font baisser les miens
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche
Voilà le portrait sans retouches
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose
Il me dit des mots d'amour
Des mots de tous les jours
Et ça me fait quelque chose
Il est entré dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause
C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui, dans la vie
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré, pour la vie
Et dès que je l'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi,
Mon coeur qui bat

Des nuits d'amour à plus finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Les ennuis, les chagrins s'effacent
Heureux, heureux à en mourir

Having your cake and eating it too

Nothing to do? Try Freerice

For every word you get correctly, sponsors donate 10 grains of rice to end world hunger.

Blogging intensity increases as work piles up.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.
- Robert Frost


Anyway, I've been thinking. How many of us studying Life Sciences in singapore can proudly stand up and say, Yes, this is what I've always wanted to do, this is what I really have and interest in and Yes I am optimistic about my job prospects in future?

And of course, nobody will say that its a demanding course and all because there are no barriers to entry, like food science. As long as you gain admission to the faculty of science, you are free to pick whatever you like. Which is something that I'm not particularly pleased with, because there is obviously more supply than demand in future employment.

Its quite weird, because for me I feel like I'm just another science student in the entire faculty of science. I don't feel an allegiance to biological sciences or whatever - in fact, I feel slightly stupid because I feel like I'm part of the herd of sheep that's stampeding towards this so-called lucrative field despite me knowing that this has always been my 2nd choice after medicine long before the government identified life sciences as one of the many hubs in singapore. The weirdest must be a few weeks back when I was asked what I am majoring in by someone who sounded like she was born and bred overseas (the accent and manner of speaking) and when I said "uh, life sciences" she went "OH! You must be really smart!" And I thought, "Huh?"

If you poke around long enough (by poking around I mean browsing through facebook, looking at various universities' admissions pages worldwide...) you'd realise that actually life sciences is pretty highly regarded elsewhere. And there are barriers to entry. (Which probably makes it worth more.) And they are divided into specialisations like microbiology and immunology, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, neurobiology, biology (under biology I think there are different specialisations too) instead of what I'm facing now: biomedical, cell and molecular and biology, which I feel is too broad.

Random note: why doesn't nus offer a virology module? =(

Enough rambling about nothing, let's get back to work.

---------
I only just passed 2104 CA. Expected, but still... Just gotta keep at it I guess.

The interview

Well it went exactly the way I thought it would, which is to say there is no way I'd be allocated any place of my choice this time round. For the last few days I've been wondering if I'm wrong by flatly refusing anything else, but for some reason today I finally feel that I'm doing the correct thing.

Battles can't be won if one goes into the field expecting to be defeated

but I don't want to believe that I'd get it and then be disappointed all over again - I don't have time to wallow in misery this week.

The time difference between sg and montreal now is 13 hours, which really sucks. 12 hours was perfect. (I mean, the most perfect thing would be no time difference between us but since circumstances are as such...)

I'm panicking actually, wrt my academic work. I feel like I'm completely adrift and so many things want and need my attention all at once and I don't know where to look. Everytime I start on something my attention gets diverted to another and its one lousy merry-go-round and nothing gets done.

I need something to get me through this semester, some bright spark on the horizon to look forward to. The brightest spot coming up is christmas, and while I like christmas for what it marks, last year's was painful and I don't see it being any better this year. And then comes our 2nd year together, which isn't going to be entirely sweet either because its going to be spent alone wheee, followed by my 21st birthday, and then valentine's day where I will probably throw rocks at lovey dovey couples or poke any pink balloons that float across my field of vision with a sharp needle (which going by how sci fac looked like this year, is a distinct possibility). BAHHH.

The Grouch, I am.


The most interesting thing that's happening in my life now is that I've been getting up close and really personal with multidrug-resistant acinetobacter baumannii, an opportunistic human pathogen. Not the bugger itself, mind you, but with relevant literature, all thanks to 2104. I still think microbes and the harm they can unleash on organisms many times their size is really fascinating.

I got this picture from http://www.futura-sciences.com - its a french webpage, and the caption says "Acinetobacter baumannii en culture sur gélose chocolat." Gélose chocolat. It sounds good to eat, really. But of course, if I translate it correctly and wiki isn't bs-ing, chocolate agar is actually just a type of blood agar plate in which the blood cells have been lysed by heating the cells to 56 °C.

And I think there's beauty in a well streaked agar plate. Mmm.

Off to bed.

No More Grey's

Until the end of the exams.

I've finished season 2, at the expense of writing reports/mugging/planning. Its a good stopping point, because there's some sense of completion, nothing hanging in the air. (Of course I know the story doesn't end there since there's season 3 and 4 but... at least the season ended.)(I'm obsessing over things I shouldn't be obsessed over, I know.)

Now to channel my energy for other more urgent stuff. Like 2104 and 2201 reports and 2103 test and the interview which I know probably isn't going to be in my favour anyway but I'd still have to prepare for it and give it my best shot. I really hate having to put in effort for it actually, because it takes effort, it becomes my baby of sorts, and when nothing comes of it I'm just going to be disappointed all over again when I've already dealt with all the negative stuff a few weeks back. And then I'd need recovery time again when I don't actually have that much to spare.



Cristina: You know, being aware of your crap and actually overcoming your crap are two very different things.

Doesn't she phrase things nicely? Fits in great, really, with life just yet.

The end is near.

Everyone's stressed and busy.

Drop everything and Run!

On some days it sounds like a good idea.

---------

Yes I've recently discovered an interest in Grey's Anatomy. However, in the words of hs and pam, I also happen to enjoy spoiling it for myself. Like how I just have to read sypnosis(es?) before watching an episode. I don't know, but I absolutely hate not knowing what's going on in a show actually. So urm, its not called spoiling the show, its called heightening my enjoyment of the drama.

And then I hit this episode yesterday:

In general, people can be categorized in one of two ways -- those who love surprises and those who don't. I don't. I've never met a surgeon that enjoys a surprise, because as surgeons, we like to be in the know. We have to be in the know, because when we aren't, people die and lawsuits happen. Am I rambling? I think I'm rambling. Okay, so my point, actually, and I do have one, has nothing to do with surprises or death or lawsuits, or even surgeons. My point is this: whoever said "What you don't know can’t hurt you", was a complete and total moron. Because for most people I know, not knowing is the worst feeling in the world.

Oh yea, I just have to know.

And it being the worst feeling in the world? Well maybe disappointment can compete with it, but I know (at least for now) that not knowing the elusive reason behind the IEX failure is DRIVING ME NUTS. WHY doesn't it work?! I thought I nailed it, but experimental results declare otherwise.