love for science.

I can't stand myself sometimes..

I attend my genomics lesson, i feel like having my genome sequenced, seriously! don't you want to know your own genome? like how similar or different are you from your parents/siblings. it's the ultimate true personality, 'who are you' test, isn't it? Why you have brown hair, why it changed from black to brown.. why you get pigmentation easily.. At this particular allele you have the same gene as your sister, etc. They give answers, instead of predictions like fortune tellers do, isn't it?

And then amazed at how everyone is essentially mutants, mutated human beings. How easily a single nucleotide polymorphism [(SNP) think A-T-C-G], can change your life, or not at all. Look at all the disease associated just because of one single change in the nucleotide in your entire genome. How you are actually susceptible to mutation (due to horrible sun!) and get away with it, wasting time and life away. And when you finally got cancer, you regret, "i should have stayed indoors!", or "i'm dying.. i should have had more fun"..

And then you attend immunology lesson, you understand how important your skin is as a protective barrier. How you're again bombarded with horrible viruses and bacteria, all the different mechanisms your body has and how your body is fighting for you and your life every single second, without you even knowing. (am i appreciating life or what? haha). You study all the thousands of diseases and wonder why you're alive.

They say humans are programmed to survive, how true!

And then immunisation and vaccination, I get awed by the persistence of scientist and researchers on clinical trials and research. More than 15 years, participation from thousands of women, billions of dollars used, just to get a HPV vaccine (against cervical cancer) for the human population (save the world?). And the possibility of the clinical trial failing at say year number 14, you go back to being NOTHING. It's like a businessman losing his company painstakingly built for years, and a researcher losing his baby research project painstakingly worked for. All the pcr waiting time, research, labwork, all the paper work put in, all the fundings you had to find, all the people who worked hard for the project.

Respect.

And then you wonder why you're attending the lecture and feel insignificant in life...


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Remind myself not to be the overprotective parent who visits the doctor over a sneeze. no panicking over cough, sneeze, etc. let the antibodies and t cell do their job so they have memory b cells so that they do not not fall sick every other day over some minor bacteria in the future. I don't mind if its say some nasty bacteria, but no way are my kids gonna fall sick because they can't even protect themselves against environmental pathogens.

If i ever get kids per se...








I feel very geeky, like revelation. haha. Sorry! school-life. :)