Izzah Abdul Latiff

It’s getting near to the end of semester 2 and it’s been a nice relaxing week. We only have one more report to do before the end of this semester and that is the assessed #MB1031 scientific report. We were supposed to have our #MB1031 poster presentation yesterday but due to the strike, it was cancelled. I was a bit bummed at first because I wanted to get it over and done with but then again, we’re given a bit more time to prepare and practice for it. The only thing that’s bugging me right now is that I haven’t received both my microbiology essay and practical report back. I’ve been checking the pigeonhole everyday for it and hopefully I’ll receive it before end of term! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

It's been such a relaxing week with less workload and more time to properly go through lecture notes and do assignments such as the weekly #BS1011 and research for the upcoming poster presentation for #MB1031. We had our first #BS1006 physiology practical last thursday and I must say I quite enjoyed it am looking forward to the others! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

another busy week with lots of deadline to meet! I struggled to keep up in #BS1009 practical this week, maybe because there was a lot to do and my lab partner has to go early because she was not feeling very well. In this week's #MB1031 worksession, we were given essay-style answers to a specific examination question and were told to rank them. I now have a rough idea as to what a first class essay looks like and how it differs from the other rankings. I also now know how difficult and how much of a headache it is to mark essays! Aside from that, i have finished the plan we were told to write for tomorrow's exam essay. my only concerns are whether i will have enough time or not and how much information i remember! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

It has been a tiring but good week and seems like I am now used to the long hours in uni. I struggled in the previous #BS1011 assignment on excel and was a bit disappointed in that as I learned how to use excel when I was in secondary school but haven't practiced using it in a very long time. I guessed it's true what they say about practicing. I'm glad I went to the help session and got it all sorted out! For #MB1031, our next task is to write up a scientific report and have a draft ready by tomorrow. I am working on it now and hopefully the advice in tomorrow's lecture will help me to improve! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

It's the end of second week of term already, this week has gone really fast! I'm very pleased that although this week has been busy, it's so far manageable and i'm slowly getting used to the timetable. Hopefully I can maintain this until the end of term. I really enjoyed Professor Tobin's talk on Alzheimer's and Malaria for #MB1031 on thursday. #MB1004 module is quite challenging with the depth of its content and how much there is to remember. I quite enjoyed #MB1005 practical session this week with the fruitflies. Next on the list is to finish the practical report and also the #BS1011 assignment which I find difficult. Help session tomorrow it is then! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

we had a lecture on antibiotics in #MB1031 and in this article, research is being done to further the understanding of living systems through the application of computational methods. There is an increase in microbial resistance to drugs so there is a need to develop new antimicrobial agents rapidly. With the use of computational method, their aim is to help develop new antibiotics in a shorter period of time and get the most out of existing medications to control the widespread of drug-resistant bacteria. - Izzah Abdul Latiff from Bookmarklet

It is the end of the first week of semester 2 and my week has been busier than I thought! From trying to adjust to the new packed timetable to getting my head around the new modules. I'm not really used to the late classes and the 2 hours lecture yet. Staying at uni from 9 am til 5 pm is challenging and is something i need to get used to but by having less frees than semester 1, it's like a constant reminder for me to keep on top of my work and organise my lecture notes to avoid the piling up of work. I enjoyed most of the lectures this week especially #MB1005. We've had two practicals this week, I didn't really enjoy #BS1009 practical mainly because I didn't really know what to do without guidance from the demonstrator but hopefully it will get better in time. However, i did enjoy the #MB1005 practical. I think good time management and organisation is the key to keep up with this semester's demanding timetable. Loking forward to next week and see how I progress. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

I got confused with the conversion table from Dr Willmott's first dry session. I suggest you to take a look at the questions from the slides. - Aklimah Haji Mustapa

yeah, I got confused too at first but then i found out that in some of the answers to the questions the µ sign is not showing so it is read as M instead of µM. is my problem the same as yours? - Izzah Abdul Latiff

I found this article related to the DNA bit of #BS1015. In this article researchers from Hong Kong are now able to determine a baby's genetic make up from the mother's blood sample. They also said that about 10 percent of DNA found in a pregnant woman’s blood plasma actually comes from the fetus. Some groups have used that DNA to detect traits inherited from the father or to determine whether the fetus carries extra chromosomes. But no one knew whether the entire fetal genome was floating around in its mother. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

I've read this article. At the moment, the fetal DNA is very little so the techniques to extract it are expensive and time consuming. This has posed a challenge for researchers and scientists. Very interesting article though. - Arnold Gangaidzo

MAOA-L is a gene that controls signaling chemicals in the brain. it used to be thought to make people more aggressive however, according to recent research, this so-called "warrior gene" helps people in making better decision In a study published last year Dominic Johnson of the University of Edinburgh, UK, found that MAOA-L carriers were more aggressive, but only after a large provocation and without apparent impulsiveness. I don't know if it is related to our modules, maybe a bit on genes in #BS1015 but it's an interesting article to read. :) - Izzah Abdul Latiff

oops! technically 10 marks cause each question is worth 10 marks! :) - Izzah Abdul Latiff

same! I dont want to find after ive submitted it that something needs to be changed : ) - Maryam

@Gulshana - correct, once it's submitted that's it - Dr Chris Willmott

in this article, Scientists have long assumed that genes involved in making complex structures such as ribosomes are activated in a highly-coordinated way. However it is discovered that the expression of the genes that make the protein subunits of ribosomes and other multi-protein complexes is not at all coordinated or co-regulated. In fact, such genes are so out of touch with each other that they are known as "clueless" genes. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

#BS1015 - Izzah Abdul Latiff

In my opinion, google reader is a little bit annoying in a way that it is difficult sometimes to find the relevant article to our modules and some of the articles cannot be access fully or too complex for my understanding and i'm certainly not addicted to it. However, I do encounter some articles which might not be relevant to our modules but i'm interested in and also keeps me up to date with the recent scientific articles. It has also been useful as a research tool for essays and our upcoming #MB1030 assessed presentation. I am currently subscribed to 12 feeds in which most of them are the feeds from the recommended list and I go through them 3-4 times a week. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

From what we learned in #BS1015, DNA letters encode information and RNA is made in DNA’s likeness. The RNA then serves as a template to build proteins and this is called the Central Dogma. But a study of RNA in white blood cells from 27 different people shows that, on average, each person has nearly 4,000 genes in which the RNA copies contain misspellings not found in DNA. how the RNA misspellings happen. They could be substitutions made while the RNA copy is being made, or the changes could happen later. The consequences of the misspellings are also unknown. For instance, misspellings might cause the RNA to be degraded faster or interfere with the molecule’s ability to make proteins. I find this article particularly interesting! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

I found this article and I thought it's related to what we learned in #BS1015 about DNA replication and the role of the enzyme telomerase in maintaining telomeres or caps of DNA in DNA replication. Telomeres shorten as cell divides and and when they reach a certain length, the cells eventually die. To slow this down, telomerase adds new DNA to the end of the telomeres. It is discovered that if the enzyme is activated longer, lifespan is longer. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

I was reading this article and it reminded me of what we learned in #BS1015 about protein structure and specificity. Amyloid is a toxic protein which if accumulated can cause the death of brain cells. Amyloid is able to bind to EpBH2 (a neurotransmitter) and this can reduced the amount of Amyloid in the brain and hence, reducing death of brain cells. Boosting levels of EphB2 is believed to be able to help in easing memory problems. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

I wonder where does the amyloid comes from.... and how is it possible that they can exist in the human brain.. Does it have something to do with the failure of the proteosome in regulating 'bad' proteins? - Sabri Ali

the feedback we received today is very useful! :) - Izzah Abdul Latiff

#UoLfeedback #MB1030 - Dr Chris Willmott

Me too! I put my references in italics but was marked down for this! - Alice Baxter

You'll be fine im sure..im going to be watching you and finding ways you need to improve so good luck!! Dont worry though because our MP1 group is very supportive - Maryam

Thanks Maryam! goodluck to you too and looking forward to everyone's presentation later! :) - Izzah Abdul Latiff

15 million genetic differences identified in just 179 people! i found this article ineresting and it is related to what we learn in #BS1015 about DNA sequencing. - Izzah Abdul Latiff

A protein in the cells of the brain could play a role in depression and possibly be a target for antidepressants. It is interesting to know that not all functions of different proteins are known yet and who knows what might be discovered next! :) - Izzah Abdul Latiff

Very nice recap, thanks for posting it :) - Thomas Webber

This is a great interactive aid to support the work in today's lecture. Thanks for posting it up :) - Gulshana Choudhury

If you include a # before the module code, it will create a link which you can click on to see all related posts! #CH1070 - Joshua Bower