Key to Score Bioinformatics

Since i'm bored to death right now waiting for Fauzan to finish his work on bioinformatics, i have no other choice but to make this entry.

Just now, we have a bioinformatics practical class. I'm in the same group as sitot and ann. We were asked to choose a species and a gene of interest for that species, then search for its sequence at NCBI a.k.a GenBank. After that, we need to BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) the sequence in order to find 29 more sequences of the same genus and gene of interest.

With the skills that ann and sitot have, we managed to finish it earlier than expected. That's why right now i am in quite a boredom. But they were great. I had learnt a lot from sitot. She said, in bioinformatics, we must remember the motto: STEP BY STEP TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING. I hope all of us can remember that! It is the greatest learning process in bioinformatics. If u wish to get A for this subject, stick to the motto :) Credit goes to sitot for her devotion in bioinformatics. Thank you, sitot!

Do You See Me Any Different?

Just a rather bold question to be asked, answers will not be evaluated. :)

(Anyhow, I think study of human behavior is interesting but I never get to figure out my own self, just yet.)

Science and Technology in the 21st Century

That was the title of the public seminar by Nobel laureate Professor C. N. Yang who won in 1957 in the field of physics. It was held at the Le Meridien hotel yesterday from 2 till 5 pm.

The place was filled with students and lecturers, professors and researchers. The seminar was started off by giving the background of the speaker. For someone aged above 80, he sure looked young and energetic. He looked 60. Maybe it was the distance from the stage that played such trick.

Prof. Yang started off by giving the history of MRI, computer and biotechnology. And then he talked about these fields in the current situation, followed by the future prospect in the next 50 years. Just as it was starting to get interesting, it ended abruptly.

Prof. Yang was talking about the inter-relation of basic science, developmental science and applied science. According to him, in the next 50 years, more emphasize will be given to applied science. At the end, it's all about money.

Kak Sofie was about to ask a question related to where Malaysia stands at this point. Is applied science given its due importance? Or are we lagging behind? But people were starting to queue up behind the microphone. Alas, it was too late for anymore questions. Better luck next time Kak Sofie.

The speaker was an interesting person. He knew all the people in the history he spoke about. He even knew Watson and Crick. In case you're wondering, they're the guys who discovered the double helix structure of DNA. It was a shame that his talk was a short one.

Apparently it is the Academy of Science Malaysia who is in charge of bringing these Nobel laureates here to give talks to the public. Hopefully, Malaysia will be able to produce one of its own soon enough. And I hope I'll live to see that day.

I'm Back!!!

Happy new semester to all my Biotechnologist-to-Be friends!!!

I'm not at all prepared to go to class. No money (all finished during practical), no stationeries (all lost during practical), no shoes (yet to be collected from Lanchang), no lab coats (and yet to be collected). And not to mention the unending compound I receive from Mahallah's office, and it's totaling up to RM100! What the...

This is by far my most unprepared (and/or un-motivated) self ever. But hey, ain't it a well-known phrase that "it's not how you start it, but how you end it'.

So I guess this time I shall only say; bring it on...

Till then, hope to see you guys in one piece this Monday at class. Ciao!

Timetable for Sem I, 06/07

Due to popular demand, or also known as incessant annoying by Hajar Fauzan, here'’s the timetable for the next semester.

1. Introduction to Bioinformatics
2. Instrumentation in Biotechnology Research
3. Design & Optimisation in Biotechnology Research
4. Medical Biotechnology
5. Chemistry & Biochemistry of Natural Products
6. Research Methodology
7. Skill - Replace the Photography class with whatever skill class you're taking

So there you go. A mouthful of subjects. Gosh, it sounds difficult. And I seriously have no idea what it's going to be about.

But one thing for sure, it would be a semester that I'm truly looking forward too. Reports. Assignments. Quizzes. Aaaahhh.... The bliss of the education system. And also the Photography class. Really hoping to get some pointers in this field. And maybe along the way shoot some really amazing photos. Wohoo!

The only thing I'll be complaining about would be the Saturday classes. I'm keeping my fingers crosses that it would be changed to a different time, but that's never going to happen. Bah, nothing wrong with wishing right? But since we need to 'import' our lecturers from outside, it willdefinitelyy be night classes and Saturday labs. I really, really hope it won't be therepetitionn of the previous semester. Replacing classes is a big hassle. Especially if it's with these imported lecturers.

Alrighty then. Can't wait to see all you guys real soon. And don't forget, I've got stuff from Aussie too. So behave. :)