10 Facts About Diabetes I Learnt From My Research

It has been one year since I started my PhD project in diabetes! I was a total novice back then when my graduate advisor introduced me into the area of diabetes, barely getting my hands on the basic knowledge. I was reading about the molecular mechanism of diabetes treatment, and my knowledge of diabetes was only skin deep. PhD is not a rosy journey - there were a lot of disappointments and stress to meet requirements!

After a year, I couldn't describe in words, how much I have gained in my knowledge and understanding of diabetes! When we discuss about diabetes, the first thing that come to mind is high blood sugar and sweet urine, right? In actual fact, diabetes is a complex disease. I have done a lot of readings for my research, so let me tell you what I've learnt from it.

Of course, what I'm writing below is not substitute for medical advice from qualified practitioners.


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Diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease found together is actually a syndrome
I have always heard of people with heart attacks who is also affected by diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood lipids and a host of other conditions. Well, are these people affected by separate diseases? From the surface the answer seems to be yes. But in fact they are affected by one syndrome. Putting it more exactly, they are affected by the metabolic syndrome. A syndrome means a set of signs and symptoms that are 'friends'(correlated) of each other. There is one cause (something wrong with the person's bodily metabolism) and the diseases are manifestations of the syndrome.

Diabetes is a silent killer
Type 2 Diabetes often have no sign and symptom. It's already too late when patients have had a heart attack, and find out about diabetes! I haven't mention having diabetes also increases your chances of having heart attacks. Don't get caught by a nasty surprise, that's why body check up is important!

Diabetes affects how body handles fat and cholesterol
Medical science tells us that metabolism of sugar and fats are commonly controlled (regulated), and I know for a fact that insulin also controls fat metabolism. Cutting the long story short, I can tell you that patients with diabetes have abnormal cholesterol level that make them prone to heart attacks (a term I called it atherogenic dyslipidemia). Many treatment options for diabetes focus on controlling blood sugar, but I can tell you: watch out for your cholesterol level too!

Besides Type 1 and Type 2, there are many more types of diabetes
I am sure many are familiar about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes taught in textbooks, right or not? There are in fact, many more types and causes of diabetes. There's gestational diabetes or Type 3 diabetes that affects pregnant women. There is diabetes with a genetic causes. There is diabetes caused by medication and viral infection. Taking detailed medical history and correctly diagnosing the cause of diabetes is so important now!


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Diabetes affects blood vessels, and hence blood pressure
The state of high blood sugar and reduced insulin sensitivity can affect the function of endothelium, cells that line the inside of your blood vessels. Endothelium controls relaxation and contraction of blood vessels by sensing blood flow and secreting factors to vascular smooth muscles. When endothelium is less able to relax blood vessels due to diabetes, you'll have high blood pressure.

Fat tissue secretes hormones that controls energy metabolism
The fat tissues or known as adipose tissues are popularly thought to be fat stores. It turned out that adipose tissues secrete leptin and adiponectin, important hormones that control your appetite and insulin sensitivity. Some anti-diabetic drugs make use of fat tissue for their effect, in fact.

There are three major insulin sensitive organs, failure in one of them affects your whole body
Muscles, fat tissues and liver are organs that respond to insulin. What happens when only one of them fails? Using special methods to make one organ non responsive to insulin, scientists have been able to show that diabetes and heart attacks ensues. The actual diabetic case of course involves all organs.

Obesity carries a high risk of Type 2 Diabetes, but being skinny is not good news either
It's not hard to think that being overweight/obese increases risk of Type 2 diabetes. What about skinny people? Using mice that are not able to form adipose tissues (lipodystrophic mice), scientist also showed that they are not insulin sensitive and diabetic. So, fat tissues aren't just fat stores!

Anti-inflammatory drugs can alleviate diabetes
Consuming anti-inflammatory drugs to treat diabetes sounds very crazy, but experiments showed that it works! One thing doctors are not telling you: obese people are in a state of low grade inflammation because the fat store in their abdomen is infiltrated by immune cells and the fat cells secrete hormones that lead to inflammation. What's more, being in a state of inflammation affects insulin sensitivity, because these inflammatory hormones interferes with insulin response at the molecular level. So, the tale of anti-inflammatory drugs can improve diabetes actually makes a lot of sense.

Fatty liver is a complication of diabetes
You've probably not learnt this in textbooks. People with diabetes have a high chance of being affected by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (the medical term is hepatic steatosis). Over time, this may lead to fatty inflammation of the liver (steatohepatitis) and scarring (cirrhosis).

Last but not least, my take home message:

Don't drink too much Coke!


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What I'm up to in October 2015?

My blog has been accumulating dust since I last updated it for MTV World Stage in Malaysia. Life has been pretty busy indeed.

One year has passed since I started my PhD at University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus! When I entered my program, I had high hopes. There were a number of PhD students in my previous institution, and they looked fine doing their project. It turned out that I went through countless frustrations through the process, for problems I have unaware of. That went on for one year. On top of that, there are progress requirements to meet, and at a point I was pushed to my breaking point. That feeling is not a joke.



One important thing I've learnt about doing science in Malaysia: the environment is hostile. Not to say scientists in Malaysia are unfriendly people but buying supplies to carry out my work can take up much time. I had to watch the exchange rate, because chemicals are quoted to local (Malaysian) vendors in US Dollars. Orders take weeks to months to arrive, compared to next day to a maximum of two weeks in Western countries. Now with the falling Ringgit, it's reflected in every item I am to buy and that's going to affect the number of things I can do.

If you have followed me enough, you'll know that I'm into K-pop. I'm following mostly cute girl groups, and I do occasionally watch sexy concepts. Indeed I'm a big Pink Panda when I went to MTV World Stage to watch A Pink performing live.



By chance, I stumbled upon Minx 밍스‬ and remarked the unexceptional talent of the members. They are a sister group to Dal Shabet and belongs to Happy Face Entertainment.

No one was doing a fanbase for Minx in Malaysia, so I started a Facebook fanpage for the girls without a second thought. The next thing was to promote my fanbase to other Minx and K-pop idols' fanpages.

That night I was contacted by a fan after the admin of Minx Taiwan told him about it. We talked about our interest for Minx. It turned out that he had the idea of setting up the Minx fanpage for Malayisa, but he was busy following Minx's activities in South Korea and I went ahead of him. In that conversation I appointed him as the second admin of the page.

I hope to step on Korean soil one day but meanwhile, I am focusing on bringing timely updates from Minx!

At the initial stage, I approached AOA and Dal Shabet's Malaysian fanbases to help me promote. I am grateful for their help and mentoring indeed!

At the time I created Minx's fanbase, I couldn't find quality English translations of the girls' updates. There is Minx Taiwan translating from Korean into Traditional Chinese. There is Minx Philippines using Google and Bing Translate and clean up the result. There is Minx Turkey eagerly craving to make updates accessible to their fans, but couldn't do so due to language barrier.

So I came in to translate Minx's updates from Chinese into English. Slowly, the fandom of Minx is being transformed. Filipino fans have access to quality English translations. Minx Turkey is beginning to have more frequent updates thanks to my translations.

My role model is Apink Malaysia, the top Malaysian fanbase for A Pink. I really admire their consistency and breath of content, and their passion for the girls.

My organic likes plateaued at 68. I needed to reach out to more potential fans. So I approached Josh Lim, now the boss of LikesBeforeLove. I am aware that I am spending hard cash on this.



Thanks to his mentoring and effort in creating Facebook ads, my Minx fanpage has hit 1000 likes when I wrote this. This is a feat I've never achieved before, and I couldn't do so on my own strength.

The fact is, Josh Lim has worked with clients from celebrities to businesses to help them gain fans and generate sales leads.

What have I learnt through creating a fanbase for Minx?

• Whether you are creating a social media page for work or leisure, it'll end up as competitive as a business. People come to your page with expectations that you're able to provide them something.
• Spending money to promote so that people notice your work is equally important as your hard work itself
• Work with people to achieve a common goal. While I strive to secure my leadership position in the fandom, I share my expertise and be receptive to collaborations to achieve the common goal, that is to make Minx a success in K-pop.

I wish to talk about many other things I've gone through, but my main limit is time. Before I sign off I'd like to encourage you to have a blog to share your interest and thoughts on things. Yes, there's Twitter and Facebook to talk about the short stuff, but nothing beats the versatility of a blog to fully express yourself. As Daphne Charice has said it, please continue to read, respond and contribute to blogs. Don't let blogging (Malaysian scene) die.

SECRET's Hyosung shows you what being sleep deprived is like

Like many of you, I'm in my 20s, and I'm guilty of messing up with my sleep. I've tried not sleeping at all during my undergraduate years, but after an episode I never dared to not sleep again. Now, even at the worst of circumstances, I'll get at least some sleep to help protect my body function.

I've stayed up in the lab up to 2:00 am in the morning to complete an experiment, and drove home afterward. It was no joke that driving in this condition is dangerous. I was not only drove in a lowered state of control, but there were motorists who drove in the opposite direction on an expressway. The next day, I had a meeting to attend, and was late for it.

When I'm deprived of sleep, I felt as if my lungs are burning. And I'm irritable. No joke.



This is an old video of SECRET's Jun Hyosung hosting a video show. What do you notice? Slurry speech. And, she struggled to keep her eyes open. That's what sleep deprivation do to you.

Viewers of the show accused MC Hyosung of being intoxicated and poured their wrath in the next episode. Ouch, that hurts.

So, why was she like that?

Our K-pop idols have crazy schedules and things can get real busy when lots of filming is needed. Prior to hosting the episode of the show, she filmed "Magic" MV with her group mates for 24 hours. Cumulatively, she hasn't slept for 48 hours! That's a lot. Viewers have no idea about Hyosung being sleepless.



Hyosung has talked about her "drunk MC" episode on a variety show. Apart from that, she talked about other stuff.

The drunk MC video may be an amusement for us, but it showed us the consequence of sleep deprivation is real.

Have some sleep, baby. You need it.

Where am I now? I gave you a Nobel Prize!

I use GPS whenever I need to head to a new place and what's even more amazing, our brains actually have a GPS built-in.



Where am I now, and how do I know where I am on Earth? If you can answer that this is a brain function, you are on the right track.

The brain does the job of keeping track of our current position, direction and movements on Earth. This allows us to find our way back home, going to work to earn our living, or simply going to nice places to relax ourselves.

Sadly, this basic function is handled so well that it's taken for granted.

So, how we know where we are? You've asked a question worth a Nobel Prize!


cr: PublicHealthWatch

The 2014 edition of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser & Edward Moser for the discovery of "inner GPS" built in our brains. Thanks to the Nobel Prize in 2014, I have the chance to learn about this important discovery that defines our identity as human beings.

I know there are more deserving recipients of the prestigious Nobel Prizes for their contribution to our state of knowledge. The fact that the trio received the Nobel Prize is a testimony of the high impact of the work.



How does the inner GPS in our brains work? Basically there are two types of cells in our brain for geospatial navigation. Using rats as models, scientists have discovered Place cells and grid cells. These two cell types forms the basis of geospatial memory, an inner map that we remember to help us move about in our surroundings.

The discovery of the 2014 Nobel Prize also tells us the cellular basis of thinking. They are telling us, the functions of the software depends on hardware! What an astonishing discovery, isn't it? But, if you've learnt about logic gates in physics, they are essentially (arrangement of) hardware to accomplish a task. We knew about creating a logic gate with electronic components before we knew about programming, so this discovery kinda make sense.

We are coming to the days where knowledge abounds. I'm sure the 2015 edition of the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine will be exciting!

#biology #neuroscience

Opportunity will present itself (Part 2)

I've previously looked at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus for a research project and made an enquiry to a young academic. She replied that she had no vacancy for a graduate student, and I stopped looking at Nottingham Malaysia.

Three months later, she forwarded a vacancy in another laboratory (in the same department) to my email. After looking at the job description and the academic's research profile, I was attracted to the nature and approach of his research and decided to give it a shot.

I was called for interview and what happened afterward is history. I can't thank God much enough for a good timing like this.

I started on 15 September 2014. Glad to be back in science!

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2012 for G Protein Coupled Receptors

After a long hiatus, I'm back to blogging about a Nobel Prize that matters very much to me. Nobel Prizes, as its founder Alfred Nobel puts it in his will, aims to reward people for making great contributions without regard to race and nationality.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry rewards scientists for contributing to the field of chemistry. Apart from pure chemistry, prizes are also awarded for discoveries made in molecular biosciences. The prize in chemistry has a lot to do with better medicines used to treat diseases today and chemical processes used in industry to quickly transform raw materials into finished products; in short the Nobel Prizes work touches almost every aspect of our lives. The scientists worked tirelessly in the labs and fields to make our lives better, we should give a big salute for their effort :)

Who wins the award?


From left: Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Koblika

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded to Robert J. Lefkowitz of Duke University and Brian K. Koblika of Stanford University.

What is it awarded for?

The prize in chemistry was awarded for work on G protein coupled receptors. Have you ever experienced the thrill of adrenaline rush? Apart from the action of the hormone adrenaline, this feeling also depends on adrenaline receptors located on surfaces of your cells.

For a long time, how cells sense their environment has been a mystery. Scientists knew that hormones like adrenaline have powerful effects like raising heartbeat and blood pressure, so they thought there must be a recipient for hormones that are located on cell surfaces. This knowledge has been hidden from us until the Robert Lefkowitz began his work in 1968.

Lefkowitz started to use radioisotope labelling on hormones to trace their corresponding receptors. Thanks to radioactivity, he managed to fish out an important receptor for adrenaline: the β-adrenergic receptor. The receptor looks like this:



The receptor (blue) is a protein chain that passes the cell membrane seven times, hence it is also named seven pass receptors. At the bottom of the receptor lies a G protein consisting of three parts: α, β and γ subunits. Once the hormone molecule (yellow) binds in the pocket at the receptor, it changes the shape of the receptor.  The α subunit of the G protein complex detaches to pass the signal to other parts of the cell.

The next breakthrough came in the 1980s when Brian Koblika found the gene (DNA) in our genome that encodes the adrenaline receptor. Interestingly, they found the adrenaline receptor looks a lot like the receptor found in our eyes - the receptor that captures light that enables us to see. It turned out that seven pass receptors belongs to a very large family!

What does G protein coupled receptors have to do with me?

Today, we known that there exists at least a thousand of such receptors in humans, responsible to sense stuff like light, flavour, smell, nutrients and hormones. The seven pass architecture is highly adaptable- evolution has created and modified so many of them to bind lots of stuff in the receptor's pocket. These receptors play a very big role in our senses - they are found in our nose, tongue and eyes.

But what makes this class of receptors so important? Half of the medicines we buy in pharmacies act on G protein coupled receptors to make us feel better. By understanding how they work, for sure we can come up with better medicines :)

Biorefresher: Rum Pum Pum Pum!

Biorefresher 1

f(x) has just released their new piece Rum Pum Pum Pum (Korean title: Wisdom Tooth)!

Biorefresher 2

Epic chess game lol! Look at Godzilla made from pawns :D

Biorefresher 3

What's in a baby's name? Popularity of some names turned out to arise randomly, as mathematicians have worked out. The same applies to social media phenomena and established mutation in a population :)

How to gain entry into Walter and Eliza Hall Institute as Honours student?

It's approaching the second semester of study for you, readers based in Melbourne and other Australian cities. Some of you may be at your final year of study, approaching graduation after years of working hard for a tertiary experience. If you are in your final year, moreover in your final semester, I ask you to read on for a future important to you.

What happens after a Bachelor's degree? Should I be looking for a job? Or should I continue to pursue Honours?

Why Honours? There are many reasons to continue for an Honours degree, but I sum it up to a few words: it boosts your credentials tremendously, making you much more worthy. Having graduated with an Honours myself, it gave me a big boost to my confidence. It's an opportunity to put knowledge into practice.

Despite majoring in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, I have chosen to pursue my Honours course at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. With a little exploration, I have found a place that is much more worthier, the pride of the Australians; as a foreigner I was just getting to know its significance.

I almost forgot to tell you - Walter & Eliza Hall Institute is synonymous with Department of Medical Biology of Melb Uni.



The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is located a street away from The University of Melbourne, on the grounds of Royal Melbourne Hospital, next to a high school.

It is home to many far reaching discoveries in medical science, including but not limited to Bcl-2 in cell death and colony stimulating factors in blood cell production. Colony stimulating factors, discovered by Don Metcalf, allowed chemotherapy to be carried out at stronger doses, saving many lives of cancer patients. Notably, Sir Macfarlane Burnet from the institute got himself a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1960 for the discovery of immunological tolerance.



Why do Honours at the Institute instead of other departments at the University? Imma' tell you some secrets.

First, you are automatically awarded a 5000 AUD scholarship once you're accepted. Secondly, the Institute provides manpower dedicated to take care of glass- and plasticware wash ups, so you can focus more on experimental work that matters. That makes your lab life easier :)

How to apply to Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Honours?

1. Most importantly, decide if you can secure sufficient grades in relevant majors. It's possible to enter with a major in life sciences, mathematics or chemistry, depending on the requirement of the research project. This Institute asks for 80% average for aspiring students, compared to 65% for a typical Honours course.
2. Look through research interests of professors on the Institute website. Contact the professor, discuss the project and reach an agreement with them. When you have reached an agreement, you have secured supervisor acceptance. Get that sorted out before your final year ends!
3. Follow a two-phase application process: applying to the institute and applying to the University of Melbourne. Instructions can be found here.
4. Wait for the offer letter from University of Melbourne. Accept the offer for a project and you're admitted!

Want to study with world class scientists in the prestigious Walter and Eliza Hall Institute? Head over to http://www.wehi.edu.au/ to start!

Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine 2012 for induced pluripotent stem cells

Who wins the award?



From left: John Gurdon, Shinya Yamanaka. Image taken from Nobelprize.org

The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the year 2012 is jointly awarded to John B. Gurdon of University of Cambridge and Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University.

What is it awarded for?

The citation of the award was "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent".

In 1962, working with frog eggs, John Gurdon discovered that nuclei of somatic cells contained all required information to develop into a mature organism. In a classic experiment, he replaced an immature nucleus from a frog egg with a nucleus from a mature intestinal cell. The modified egg cell develops into a normal tadpole.

More than 40 years later, Shinya Yamanaka showed that intact, mature cells can be turned into stem cells by introducing a few genes. These stem cells are able to develop into all cell types of the body.


Image taken from Nobelprize.org

What is the impact of the discovery?

All of us begins our life in the womb as a single cell. From this cell known as zygote, it keeps dividing and give rise to over 300 cell types in the body. This single cell develops into organs found in pregnacy (including the embryo), known as totipotency. Pluripotency is the ability to become all cell types except the placenta and amniotic sac.

We have traditionally thought that differentiation into mature cells is irreversible. The former discovery challenged this understanding, showing that the genetic program for cell differentiation is not lost as the organism develops but retained throughout the organism's lifetime. The latter discovery took one step further, showing genetic programs required to maintain the pluripotent state of stem cells.

The discoveries resolved the ethical controversy of working with embryonic stem cells and also opens up new avenues to treating diseases using the approach of regenerative medicine, including:

• Creating reprogrammed pluripotent stem cells to treat blood cancer
• Inducing cell division of nerve cells to treat paralysis
• Creating "disease in a dish" model to study diseases from a developmental biology approach

Related links:
Press Release
Advanced Information (if you understand biology)

Biorefresher: Honours year and Eureka Skydeck88!

Biorefresher 1: Starting my Honours year


Boss (Professor David Vaux) loaned me this iMac so that I can work right away! Returned it to him after I got my laptop.


This is my Macbook Pro that accompanied me throughout my Honours year. Changed the wallpaper to Girl's Day to personalise my computer.

I started my Bachelor of Science (Honours) at the prestigious Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, in the Cell Signalling and Cell Death division. Was under the tutelage of Professor David Vaux for my project.

Biorefresher 2: Visited Eureka Skydeck88



Made a trip to the viewing deck of Eureka Building in the hot summer, after finishing my Honours course. You can have a good bird eye, 360 degree view of Melbourne - definitely not a place to miss.

Biorefresher 3: I got my degree: Bachelor of Science (degree with Honours)



After all the hard work, I got an upgrade to my Bachelor's degree! Thanks University of Melbourne, thanks Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, thanks members of Professor David Vaux and Associate Professor John Silke's labs! Not forgetting my family who supported me for this extra year. It's all worth it.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 for quasicrystals

Nobel Prize isn't all about following the hard and fast rules of Nature. When you come across an observation that's not explained by existing rules, you gotta find a new explanation, no matter how long the journey is. You just gotta believe your eyes provided that everything has been done right. Not only that, you have to fight hard to prove your point, because people don't have good forgeteries, as Peter Mitchell (pioneer of chemiosmosis theory in mitochondria) said it.

Dan Shechtman Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011 was such an example.



When he observed a sample of alloy consisting of aluminium and manganese, he saw this in the diffraction pattern:


A concentric ring of dots. It has a regular pattern but they do not repeat themselves. Hence, atoms in the solid are arranged in a regular but never repeating pattern. For this reason, it's called a quasicrystal.

Colleagues put him down. He was even asked to leave his research group for defending his findings. He was called to be "wrong according to the textbook. One of Dan's fiercest critic was Linus Pauling (Nobel Prize in Chemistry & Nobel Peace Prize laureate). Despite this he never gave up and worked to have his discovery published in a journal.

Eventually, Dan's findings was reconfirmed by other scientists. The discovery of quasicrystal even compelled the International Union of Crystallography to change the definition of a crystal from "a substance in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating three-dimensional pattern" to the broader "any solid with a discrete diffraction pattern" to accommodate future discoveries.

How to explain a structure with a regular but no repeating pattern? Islamic art has done it a few centuries ago. With a minimum of two types of tiles, you can create a pattern that never repeats itself.



I'm sure more substance with the attribute of quasicrystal will be discovered along the way. Who knows advanced materials with properties we've never thought before come from this?

You may call it strange or impossible. Quantum mechanics was called impossible at first, but without it we'll never enjoy computers today.

Drew Barry's "Breast Stem Cells" wins Imagine Science Visual Science Award

Fellow biomedical animator of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Dr. Drew Barry and his student Etsuko Uno has won the Visual Science Award at the Imagine Science Film Festival for "Best short that depicts science in a visually engaging manner".

The award carries a cash prize of 1000 USD and is sponsored by Imaginal Disc.

Check out their winning title, Breast Stem Cell:



Description: An overview of the human mammary gland with a focus on the role of breast stem cells during pregnancy. The primary function of the mammary gland is to produce milk to nourish young offspring. The mammary gland is comprised of three main cell types; alveolar, ductal and myoepithelial cells. During pregnancy, the mammary gland increases in size due to the action of breast stem cells, which can mature into any of the three mammary gland cell types.

Check out other winners of Imagine Science Film Festival.

Source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

No GMO allowed? Think again

Many European countries ban genetically modified organisms (GMO), regardless of whether the gene inserted are good or bad. Let's see what happen if ancient civilizations had the same policy...




Background: Most of the wheat species today are hybrids, in other words their genomes are mixed up, making them the earliest example of genetically modified organisms. Not all GMO are evil provided that you know what you're doing!

Source: Stripped Science at Nature.com Blogs

Technorati tags: genetics, genomics, agriculture, egypt, biotechnology

Peter Mac Discovery Partners program

Just came back from the launch of Discovery Partners at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in East Melbourne.



During the launch, Professor Joe Trepani, Executive Director of Cancer Research division at Peter Mac, mentioned that cancer survival rate has improved, thanks to active and ongoing research. This demonstrates how knowledge is changing and improving quality of life.

I have been contributing financially to research at the cancer research institute regularly for the past year. In return, Peter Mac recognise me as a Discovery Partner. As a Discovery Partner, I get to learn more about how my contribution translate into better outcomes in cancer treatment and making a difference in people.

Knowledge is power - scientists at Peter Mac are actively learning about cancer to find better ways of treating the disease. By contributing to research, you empower yourself and the future generations :)

Shall blog more about research at Peter Mac. Meanwhile, you can make a donation by following this link.

Cutting fluid filler

These are seen at DMG-Mori Seiki Technology Centre opening at Shah Alam.

Heat is generated at the contact point when a metal is cut using computer numerical control (CNC) machine. When this heat is not dissipated properly it can damage both the material and the machine tool. To meet the need for cooling and lubrication, cutting fluid is used.



They are also known as machining coolants. Depending on application, types of coolants available are: water-based, mineral oils, synthetic coolant, semi-synthetic coolant, motor oils, kerosene and WD-40/3-in-one-oil.



Reminds me a lot of chemistry :)

Resources:
Cutting fluid Wikipedia entry
[Tutorial] Cutting Fluid in Machining

Gel photo filler

A gel photo taken when I experimented with DNA. Generated by mixing enzymes that act like "picky molecular scissors" (restriction enzymes) and DNA, then run through agarose gel with a luminous substance.

Yarra Trams skating rhino ad

Melbourne-bound prospective students must watch this!



Was told about trams in Melbourne before I left for Melbourne for study. Beware of trams around the city, they're massive beasts that moves as fast as a car and very hard to stop. There were reports of people hit by trams before.

A tram driver once told me, there are emergency brakes on trams just in case, but activating them come at the cost of sacrificing the brake - it's metal brushing against metal, not forgetting the high-pitched creaking sound emitted is not good for your ear.

A tram is not like a car or bus that can stop immediately. A tram weighs as much as 30 rhinos skating on a track. What makes a tram so hard to stop when it's moving? Massive objects have a physical property called inertia, dictated by Newton's First Law of Motion. Newton's First Law says that an object will tend to keep it's speed and direction of motion and resist the effect of force applied to them - still objects prefer to be still, moving objects prefer to keep on moving.

Such safety warning is an example of physics in action in everyday life.

Technorati tags: Melbourne, physics

Biomedical animator Drew Barry at TEDxCaltech: Visualization of Biology and Complex Circuits

Drew Barry produces awesome 3D cartoons of molecules involved in the processes of life. Instead of dwelling in endless lines of texts and descriptions, why not have a complete look at those cuties as things are happening? Because the best way to understand a thing is to see it.

From the video description:
Drew Berry is a biologist-animator whose scientifically accurate and aesthetically rich visualizations elucidate cellular and molecular processes for a wide range of audiences. Trained as a cell biologist and microscopist, Drew brings a rigorous scientific approach to each project, immersing himself in relevant research to ensure current data are represented. His three- and four-dimensional renderings of key concepts such as cell death, tumor growth, and DNA packaging, capture molecular shape, scale, behavior, and spatiotemporal dynamics. His groundbreaking animations of DNA replication, translation, and transcription enlighten both scientists and the scientifically curious. Drew received B.Sc. (1993) and M.Sc. (1995) degrees from the University of Melbourne. Since 1995, he has been a biomedical animator at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. His animations have appeared in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Royal Institute of Great Britain, and the University of Geneva. In 2010 he was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Why not check out his other works?

DNA packaging + replication


Transcription


Translation


You don't need to know science to be impressed by the videos. Just click and watch them!

Golden Everlasting

This flower belongs to the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Native to Australia, you can find it in most parts of the continent, from Queensland to Western Australia. Many of its cultivated varieties can be found as popular garden plants.

It's other common name is strawflower.

Shot outside Department of Botany, University of Melbourne.

Technorati tags: plants, biology, taxonomy, Xerochrysum bracteatum

ANZAAS Annual Dinner

On the 10th of November 2010 I attended the annual dinner of Australia and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) at Graduate House. Check out the food blogging post of this event here. This is the time for man and women of science to have fun!

I'm going to talk more about Drew Barry's work in this post.


Everyone was ang mohs, except me.

Dr Drew Barry from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute was our guest of honour.



Who's Drew Barry? He's a biomedical animator hired by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute to communicate bioscience to the public through 3D animations. A cell biologist by training, he made biomedical animations big by winning an Emmy Award in 2005!

Check out his work:


DNA replication.


Central dogma of molecular biology part 1 - Transcription

His job involves reading journal articles produced by scientists and attempt to produce a 3D animation based on the details reported. His job is not easy since observational accounts in the articles may not fit into visual representation. Furthermore, each clip you saw above took him months to produce.

He has done a fantastic job in presenting scientific facts to laypeople. His regret is that some parties actually used his work to argue that people arise by intelligent design! Well, facts are facts, that's how biological systems work, but you can't really use these as a basis to argue for an ideology.


Jim Vaux, the brother of David Vaux. An engineer.


The committee members of ANZAAS. Peter is our State Chairman. Mike Murray is one of the key figure to rally for building of Australian Synchrotron.

What does ANZAAS do? On the third Wednesday of every month, we have a free public lecture at Gene Technology Access Centre. Mark your calendar and join us!