100th post: Thesis submitted!

On my 100th post, I'm here to declare that I'm one step nearer to graduation.

I've submitted my honors thesis today.

You would think, 'ahh, that must have felt great, to finally submit your thesis'.... Har har. Not exactly.

Ok, so it was partly my fault. I had planned to go to the office early and check my thesis again before printing, but I had stayed up till 4am last night to finish the drafts for my posters, so I could hardly lift my head to the alarm clock some 4 hours of sleep later. In the end, I reached the office about 15 mins before ten. But I thought I still have 2 hours before submission deadline, so I should be okay.

Went to library with my FYP mate and printed one copy, of which then I spent 1 hr checking my thesis word for word. I mean, once you submit, and that is it... so it's better to really check thoroughly rite? However, I spent such a long time checking that before I realized, it was 15 mins before submission deadline and I have yet to print the remaining 4 copies of the thesis. So I started sending print jobs and rushing to the printing room to retrieve my thesis. Darn the color pages, I had to spend some $50 for printing to ensure all the graphs are aesthetically pleasing for examiners. Confident the thesis is in perfect order and alignment, I didn't turn the pages to scrutinize and directly filed them for submission. All 3 hard copies for submission.

By the time I was running to the general office to submit the thesis, I was already 10 mins late and still have not prepared the soft copy for submission. So I submitted the hard copy first before running up to office to burn the soft copy. While waiting for the CD to write, I flipped through the copy of thesis I printed for my supervisor. To my utmost horror, several pages of legends were detached from their figures and the alignment of the first 20 pages went horribly wrong. My heart nearly stop beating as I turned pages over pages of misaligned headlines and legends. The thought of having to reprint almost 150 pages of thesis which will cost me another $50 nearly killed me. But the worst was that all 3 copies of my thesis sitting in the office now are as good as defective items. The examiner would be appalled by the horrible (mis)organizations!

The cause?

ONE spacing (which was NOT present when I print preview my job request) in the Abstract page created a domino effect: pushing all my thesis contents down by one line, ruining all the precarious alignments.


Knowing I cannot let the examiner see all these misalignments, I ran down to the general office to withdraw all the 3 copies and reprinted the misaligned pages. After spending another $10 in the printing room, I checked EVERY single page of the thesis for other errors before submitting the thesis AGAIN, for real. The office lady seemed really pissed at my submitting-withdrawing-submitting again antics, but yea, don't care.

Believe me, there's a conspiracy involving the printing service providers to swindle our money by inserting such spacing in our document that ruins the alignments.

What a dramatic end to my 4-month thesis.

～みはる～

Perspective: The Last Lap

What do you do at the last 100 meters of a relay race?


You dash for it.


And that is exactly what I am doing now. It's approaching the final week of my undergraduate studies, and I'm putting in every microlitre of my energy for the last sprint towards the finishing line.

To simply put, it had been such an eventful semester. Frankly, I didn't have the time to sit down quietly to put things in perspective until this evening; I was racing against the clock in my relay race of thesis project and thesis writing itself. When I gave my thesis first draft to my supervisor for evaluation, I suddenly had free time on hand to mull over these things. Let me just run through some important events since my last depressing post.

• 1. Wrapping up of bench work

I have already whined enough about my long lab hours as I tried to achieve as much results as time permitted. On the day I wrapped up my project, I gleefully declared to my colleague, "This is my LAST miniprep!!! You won't see me in the lab doing lab work anymore! Hah!" At that time, I was too stressed out about starting on my still-blank thesis, hence the impact of halting benchwork, something I totally enjoyed doing, didn't really hit me. It may have been very tiring, and most of the times frustrating when you do not get expected results, but I totally love buzzing around the lab, doing experiments, and sharing ideas, jokes and complaints with colleagues across the bench, spreading (yes, all those hundred over plates I had to spread) bacteria culture on agar.... I just feel purposeful and fulfilled doing lab work. And I would definitely love to go back doing bench work soon.

• 2. Thesis writing

You know, I never ever thought I could write a book, or thesis, for the matter. That I managed to self-pen a scientific writing in 5 days (yes, 5 days!!) simply amazed me. However, it wasn't all a pleasant experience though. My momentum took 3 days to pick up, and when it did, I went into full force writing. I used to be able to read only a maximum of 2 journal articles a day, but during the height of my momentum, I was reading 20 journal articles in 6 hours. My mind became so immersed in all the information I was frantically organizing in my head that it went into an overdrive and I didn't sleep for 36 hours, all the while writing non-stop. When I finally finished my draft, I couldn't help smiling to myself, because the piece of work felt like a baby: it started a blank sheet of paper, and I wrote the 50 pages all by myself!! Felt like glowing with pride.

To illustrate just how stressful it had been producing this piece of work, let me show you my workstation at the height of stress.



I gave up working at my tiny desk, so I laid out the extra mattress on the floor and strewn the entire room.

A. Journal papers
B. Reference books hidden under the bed
C. Clothes I never had the time to fold
D. Speakers necessary to play music that would soothe my already frayed nerves
E. Laptop perched on several reference books for better ergonomics
F. Preliminary thesis draft
G. Project log book
H. More reference books
I. Thesis writing guideline
J. More journal papers
K. Thesis outline(s)
L. Even more journal papers
M. Where I sat rooted for the whole weekend writing

Every area on the floor within my working radius was strewn with all sorts of references as I rushed to finish my draft. When I finally walked to school to submit the draft to my supervisor, I was brain dead and swaying on my feet. But I persisted until I reached the office.... only to find my supervisor not in. I really wanted to quickly pass her the draft and then go back to my room and conk out for the rest of the day, but had to wait for her return to personally pass her my precious writing effort. But she didn't return to office some 2 hours later, and I could felt myself going into delirium, so I dropped my thesis on the shelf near her door along with an email reminding her to pick up my thesis... and crawled back across the campus to conk out in bed.

In a cruel twist of fate, heavens decided to release floodgates and a carnival of lightning as I started walking back to my room. Stranded in the walkway, I contemplated to wait until the storm recede or run some half a km in the rain to reach my bed. My lethargy won the debate and (un)willingly, I walked in the rain to go home and sleep. It goes without saying I was drenched like some wet blanket, and after a hot shower, I crashed out. I mean, really crash out. I conked out the moment my head hit the pillow and didn't wake up until some 15 hours later. I could really sleep summore, but had to meet my supervisor regarding the first draft thing. Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed and could felt my brain pretty much detached from the rest of my body. I was so mentally drained that it felt like I had taken some mind altering drugs and then in a hangover state. When I reached the office and greeted my colleagues, I felt like an alien speaking earthling language for the first time. The hazards of staying up 36 hours writing a thesis.

However, all the hardwork (and sacrifice of one night's sleep!) more than made up for it when my supervisor told me I did a good job with my draft. I had in fact felt very stressed out and nervous about her response to my first draft, because the rest of my FYP mates seemed to have their drafts bounced back out for some major changes before qualifying for a real draft review. I had braced myself for the same outcome (and another night of no-sleep!), so her comment took me by pleasant surprise. However, she asked that I reshuffled some of my materials before qualifying for a real draft review. So, my draft still got bounced out, but thank God no major changes required. So, after tweaking a little here and there, I managed to submit my corrected draft to her for a real review this evening.

It felt like a great relief to be able to take a one night break from the whole thesis writing mania. Throughout last week, I had even attempted to write my thesis in my sleep. The stress level was so great my mind could not rest even though it was pleading for a break. Finally, I can have a good night's sleep tonight!!

• 3. Lab potluck

To celebrate the end of our projects (and soon-to-be-end thesis writings), our lab decided to organize a potluck today. Everyone was assigned to bring some foodstuff, and we all pooled together for a hearty lunch. It was extremely enjoyable that all of us (including our supervisor!) had the chance to crowd around the table in a meeting room with all the homemade food arrayed out, sharing food, jokes and laughter with each other. There was no uneasiness whatsoever, because everyone dug into the buffet together and crapped while enjoying the food. It was a really wonderful socializing experience and all the more made me felt very attached to the lab. One colleague once described our all-girls lab as a 'loving lab', and I must say she is absolutely right. We do have our ups and downs, but we enjoyed each others' support and companionship incredibly. More so, that our supervisor is such an incredibly down-to-earth person, whom we can laugh and joke with so easily. It'll be really sad to leave the lab soon, but it had been such a wonderful semester with them and I'm sure it will be a fond memory in time to come.

• 4. Poster presentation preparation

I would probably start whining about how I haven't started designing poster for my poster presentation and all the stress that comes with it, but the invitation email to the poster presentation from the FYP coordinator today threw me in a psyched up mood. As I read through the poster list, I felt excited about the upcoming poster presentation because you can feel that it is going to be such a meaningful event for everyone of us graduating FYP students. All our hardwork in the past 6 months will be up on exhibition and we are given one whole day to express our efforts and all things we learnt these 4 years in a grand demonstration of more than 150 posters. I can't help but feel excited at the diversity of the projects listed in the poster list, because I truly feel research is fun, exciting and rewarding in its own right. I don't know why I'm all that hyped up, but it feels like my university days will end in a bang. I truly enjoyed every moment of my FYP and I'm determined to enjoy every last moment of it.


Looking back, I appreciate all the ups and downs I had faced during my undergraduate studies because it had helped me grown so much as a person. All happy and sad times, all tears and laughter are like snapshots of my life I'm determined to keep as good memories as life goes on. It makes me proud to say that I have no regrets joining the School of Biological Sciences, and it's the choice I had wanted all along for my undergraduate life.

To all my coursemates: let us make the last mile dash together! Best of luck!

～みはる～

Sunmaid raisins

You know what happens when you work continuously for at least 12-14 hours per day for 30 days?




Your mental, physical and emotional stamina shrivels up like Sunmaid's raisins.




I'm not kidding. I've been going on and on and on without weekends nor holidays... not even a decent one day break. Multiple experiments a day, several 4-day experiments per week, sky high piles of data for analyses... it's all taking a toll on me already. If I were a machine, the screws that are holding my parts together are threatening to burst out of their bolts.

So why does this person work so hard, you ask.

Answer: It's a genetic sickness called perfectionism.

After obtaining my molecular library, I'm now rushing to get a promoter. Yes, I know. Big dreams I have. To find a promoter in less than 3 months. But I want that damn promoter in my thesis. And to get that damn promoter, I'm putting in every drop of strength remaining in my already worn-out body to it.

And guess what - I haven't a single word in my thesis yet. SURPRISE!!

My deadline's end of this month, and I'm so in for some major writing stress for the next 2 weeks. After which I will collapse as the remaining bit of stamina that's holding me up will shrivel dry. Like Sunmaid's raisins.

Pray that I won't collapse any time before these two weeks.

～みはる～

Romeo X Juliet

I'm going to steal several precious minutes meant to prepare for presentation tomorrow to blog this. I just have to blog this.

The most tragic love story of all time is here.

ROMEO X JULIET

The list of Spring 2007's release of animes was out several weeks back and from a glance, I do not seem to find anything particularly interesting (if it's not yuri, it's harem, or other overused animation themes). However, there was only one which I thought might be promising: Gonzo's RomeoXJuliet.

Random Curiosity had introduced this animation several months back, when the project was announced to be released in Spring 2007. I had watched the trailer back then, and I really liked it. But I had thought, Romeo and Juliet, what a cliche love story.

I was so wrong.

The first episode was released on 4th April and it took my breath away. The music was great, the voice acting was great, the graphics were great, the animation was great, the story was fantastic. Apart from using the characters 'Romeo' and 'Juliet', and the hunch that this will end very tragically, there is nothing similar to William Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet.

Let me just gush how beautiful the opening theme is. It totally fits the tragic romantic theme of this series, and the voice of Lena Park is very soulful to start with. I loved it when I first heard it and it's now on my playlist over and over and over again. I'm going to let you listen for yourself the best OP theme of the Spring season:




Watching the first episode, you will find this a neo-Romeo&Juliet story. I supposed it's 'neo' because the city our hero and heroine reside in is called Neo-Verona, and it's an aerial city, meaning city in the sky. Horses here can fly (that totally caught me off guard) and Juliet is a master swords(wo)man.

Unlike William Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet where both the Montague and Capulet families were just noble feuds, Gonzo's Romeo X Juliet relates that Romeo's father, Montague, murdered every single member of the Capulet family except for Juliet herself as she was rescued in time by a loyal servant. For the next 14 years, Juliet lived in disguise as a common boy without knowing her true identity until her 16th birthday. For the 14 years, she also masqueraded as a swords(wo)man, nicknamed Red Whirlwind, and often whiz around the Neo-Verona city to rescue the poor commoners bullied by the Montague-led noble men and soldiers. On the night before her 16th birthday, her friend Emilia dragged Juliet to a Rose Ball, a masquerade ball organized by the Montague family for their son, Romeo. Unbeknowst of her history, Juliet let her hair down and dolled up for the party. Upon reaching the castle however, she experience flashbacks of memories in the castle, which was rightfully a property of the Capulet family. Intimidated by the cold stare from Montague, Juliet ran out into the fountain garden, and under the moonlight (with all the rose petals falling in the wind) she met Romeo and it was love at first sight.

What really captivated me about Gonzo's neo-Romeo and Juliet story is that Juliet fell in love with the son of her whole Capulet family murderer, Montague. And Romeo, who is totally clueless about the whole bloody history his father had created, was totally in love with Juliet as well. Can you still love someone the way you did at first sight when you learnt that his family had killed yours? Is love pure enough to actually persevere through such ugly betrayal? Will Juliet choose to forgive and love or will she sacrifice her love to redeem justice for her family's murder? It would be interesting to see how Juliet struggle against love, hate, justice, forgiveness and revenge.

I'm going to bet this story will end very tragically, but I think it will be the most entertaining tragic love story of the year.

Watch the trailer on the official site and be blown away by the awesome-ness of this creation.

Images from Random Curiosity and ロミオXジュィエット

～みはる～

Occupational hazards of research

My top 3 occupational hazards of research:

• 3. PCR tubes

The tiny PCR tubes are unwitting hazards. Small microfuge tubes with tiny but tight caps which requires considerable strength to cap and uncap them. It is okay if you run 1 or 2 PCR samples, but when you are doing mass sampling using PCR tubes (like 40s - 100s), repeated peeling of the caps can severely chip your nails. I have already ruined two digits in the process of sampling close to 80 tubes, and am in urgent need of nail therapy. Shucks, I have another 40 tubes tomorrow!!

• 2. Long hours without meals nor sleep

There are some days when your deadline is near and you work round the clock and the canteen is closed when you are waiting for your gel to run... you might just end up not eating nor sleeping for some time. Three consecutive days of working non-stop with only ~5 hours sleep each day, and an average of less than one meal in 24 hours is really taking a toll on my mind and gastrointestinal system. In fact, lately when I walk back to my room from campus, I feel kinda floaty. Hmm.

• 1. Muscle sprain

This is my number one hazard. Poor ergonomics in the lab setting and continous laboring leads to injury of the muscle. My back and neck muscles had been protesting for several days now as a result of sitting at the BSC for many hours straight in the lab, and today all my muscles gave way. They sprained so bad I couldn't stand straight for long and had to walk crookedly. My neck muscle is burning in strain and I had to tilt my head to relieve the pain. What undignified sight.


Research in the lab in truly not without such horrible occupational hazards.

～みはる～

Akkan Berry Berry

Since last week I have been OT-ing in lab for long hours, so when I had to wake up early for lab yesterday, I felt very very tired and drained and unenthusiatic. ぜんぜん元気なかった。

But it's a wonder how a song can inject some genki-ness (i.e. enthusiasm) to your day. While I was walking to school, I happened to press the wrong button on my mp3 player and this song came to play:

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA theme
- AKKAN BERRY BERRY -

The upbeat tune made me felt more cheerful and enthusiastic for the rest of my day. I hope it will make yours too!

A series of unfortunate events

I had a bad Good Friday.

First, I had to wake up in the morning to go to lab on a PUBLIC HOLIDAY.

Second, on my way to school, while crossing the pedestrian bridge, a moustache-ed, Middle-East-looking man heading the same direction walked up to my side and then pointed at my 1L- water container and insulted me. It goes like this:

Moustache Jerk : (snicker) What is that?
Me : (blur, thought he was pointing at my shoes) ...........
Moustache Jerk : (points at my semi-filled water bottle)
Me : .... Water? (thinking: duhhh)
Moustache Jerk : Why carry water?
Me : .... Because I want to drink? (thinking: duhhh)
Moustache Jerk : There's plenty in campus. You don't have to carry such a heavy container! (laughs)
Me : (drops sarcastic bomb) Because I like it?
Moustache Jerk : (laughs some more) Enjoy it then!

It took all my (already draining) willpower to not throw my 'heavy' water container at his moustache-d face. What kind of greeting is this that you give to a stranger on the way to work? It was such an insult! I could have carried a GALLON of water if I wanted to, what right does he had to make fun of that? How rude!

Third, every single food outlet within proximity from my lab is closed because it's a public holiday. *Pause*
Do people not need to eat on a public holiday????? The only fast-food outlet in campus, the source of gastronomic salvation for all us round-the-clock lab-ers, is also closed on Good Friday!! In the end I didn't eat breakfast, lunch nor dinner the entire day. I already skipped dinner last night, so unwarranted fasting did not go well with my gastrointestinal system. If this were a game of SIMS, my mood metre would be glowing red.

Fourth, the freezer screwed my morale big time. Already I was cold (the stupid air-conditioning is forever blowing at 0 degrees), hungry, tired, and very very mentally drained after such a long day, so all I want was to go home earlier to catch some sleep. Yesterday I discovered that I have 68 vials of bacterial cells inside the -80 degrees Celsius freezer not labeled according to the lab's system, so I had to make the changes today. So what I did was remove the 68 vials in batches of 10 serially to change the labels (you can't leave the vials out in room temperature too long, the bacteria die in an instant). Little did I know that repeated opening and closing of the freezer door will cause the interior temperature to rise VERY QUICKLY. When I was done, the display outside the freezer door showed that the interior temperature is -69 degrees Celsius, and the freezer started beeping like mad. The alarm for 'high temperature' kept flashing and beeping, and it truly ALARM-ed me. I stood there staring at the freezer door, dumbfounded.... and to my horror, the temperature kept increasing. The next thing I know, it was already -64 degrees Celsius. My blood froze.

Panic clutched its claws around my neck as I ran back to lab to call my colleague. If the temperature do not decrease now, ALL the cells in the freezer will die and.... I dare not think of the consequences. In consolation, my colleague relayed that the freezer will take some time to start cooling down, so I had to wait for a few HOURS for the freezer to cool back to -80. For the following 2-3hours, I ran back and forth between the lab and the freezer in the chiller room to silence the beeping alarm and check the temperature. Fortunately, after 1 hour, the temperature slowly dropped. It was an agonizing wait, because I had to allow the temperature to stabilize before opening the door again to put in 80 more vials. For the whole night, I had to wait for the bloody freezer to stabilize. The lethargy, hunger and stupid air-conditioning really rocked my spirits.

It's such a BAD Friday.

～みはる～

One more time, One more chance

秒速５センチメートル theme song by Yamazaki Masayoshi :

ONE MORE TIME, ONE MORE CHANCE

The video plain teases you with all the hints of what's going to happen in Chapter 2: Cosmonaut and Chapter 3: Byousoku 5 Centimeters. Makes me want to scream, "When is the DVD out???"

No better song to complement this romantic masterpiece apart from Yamazaki's heart-rending rendition of 'One More Time, One More Chance'. The title of the song speaks itself.

Here's the lyrics to the beautiful theme song in Kanji. Romanized version can be found on Gendou.

これ以上何を失えば　心は許させるの
どれ程の痛みならば　もういちど君に会える
One more time 季節よ　うつろわないで
One more time　ふざけあった時間よ

くいちがう時はいつも　僕が先に折れたね
わがままな性格が　なおさら愛しくさせた
One more chance　記憶に足を取られて
One more chance　次の場所を選べない

いつでも捜しているよ　どっかに君の姿を
向いのホーム　路地裏の窓
こんなとこにいるはずもないのに
願いがもしも叶うなら　今すぐ君のもとへ
できないことは　もう何もない
すべてかけて抱きしめてみせるよ

寂しさ紛らすだけなら　誰でもいいはずなのに
星が落ちそうな夜だから　自分をいつわれない
One more time　季節よ　うつろわないで
One more time　ふざけあった時間よ

いつでも捜しているよ　どっかに君の姿を
交差点でも　夢の中でも
こんなとこにいるはずもないのに
奇跡がもしも起こるなら　今すぐ君にみせたい
新しい朝　これからの僕
言えなかった「好き」という言葉も

夏の想い出がまわる
ふいに消えた鼓動

いつでも捜しているよ　どっかに君の姿を
明け方の街　桜木町で
こんなとこに来るはずもないのに
願いがもしも叶うなら　今すぐ君のもとへ
できないことは　もう何もない
すべてかけて抱きしめてみせるよ

いつでも捜しているよ　どっかに君の欠片を
旅先の店　新聞の隅
こんなとこにあるはずもないのに
奇跡がもしも起こるなら　今すぐ君に見せたい
新しい朝　これからの僕
言えなかった「好き」という言葉も

いつでも捜してしまう　どっかに君の笑顔を
急行待ちの　踏切あたり
こんなとこにいるはずもないのに
命が繰り返すならば　何度も君のもとへ
欲しいものなど　もう何もない
君のほかに大切なものなど

～みはる～

T_T

It's back to no-colony days.

TT_TT

～みはる～

秒速５センチメートル - 第１話 桜花抄

やっと来ました～！
新海誠の秒速５センチメートル - 第１話：桜花抄


The Japanese animation movie most anticipated this Spring - Shinkai Makoto's Byousoku 5 Senchimetoru. The first part of three, entitled Chapter 1 : Oukashou, delivered what the trailer had promised - top notch animation, excellent voice acting, gorgeous graphics, and beautiful music.

For some (maybe obvious) reason, animation movies are of higher quality than animation series. It probably has to do with the budget and direction, but animation movies have such fluid scene transition and fine-tuned animation it blows your mind. My first exposure to such superb quality animation was when I watched Miyazaki's Spirited Away. The animation of the characters and the scenes were very real. And I loved the graphics and colors. Although the plot was more supernatural, the voice acting was pretty good and dramatic.

Take Miyazaki's Spirited Away and multiply the quality by 5 times - you get Shinkai Makoto's Byousoku 5 Senchimetoru. While I do love Spirited Away, the first chapter of Byousoku 5 Senchimetoru really blew my mind. I love love love the way Shinkai-san animated the falling sakura petals and snowflakes... the sceneries throughout the Oukashou chapter were simply surreal. The animation is simply very REAL, especially in character-less scenes, i.e. the moving JR train, the falling snow at the train station, the gust of spring breeze carrying falling sakura petals, the reflection of lights against the classroom chairs,.... I could go on and on. I have never experienced such gorgeous graphics and animation. And this is only the first part of three.

I must also mention the plot and the direction of Oukashou.
In one word : brilliant.
The direction is very good because you can feel the frustration welling inside Takaki-kun when his train is delayed at every station as the snow falls mercilessly. You can feel his dismay as the snowstorm stood in his way and time passes by him in his journey to meet Akari-chan. You can feel the pain crushing Akari-chan when she relayed to Takaki-kun that she had to transfer to Tochigi. Most of all, the excellent direction makes the audience wonder if the deep bond and love Takaki and Akari had for each other could stand against the growing physical distance between them. Will they see each other again? Will time erase all special feelings they now held dear? Will time and distance drift apart two individuals with such strong affection for each other?

第３話　秒速５センチメートル holds the answer.




Please visit 秒速５センチメートル for more gorgeous images and trailers.

～みはる～

PhD... maybe?

"You have been short listed for an interview for our PhD course on 28 March 2007"

I mentally and emotionally went through a rollercoaster when I saw this email yesterday. I started off:

...feeling happy because I've made it to the interview stage, then
...feeling excited about the prospects of doing a doctorate, then
...feeling nervous thinking who the interviewer would be, then
...feeling unsure if I really have the means and time (and money!) to do PhD, then
...feeling restless deciding (already!) between PhD and a job, then
...very BLUR because I thought 28th March is NEXT WEEK.

Had my colleague, A, not remind me that 28th is tomorrow, I would have missed the interview altogether. And come to think of it, then I would not have so much to think about. Hm.

I think I think too much.

Wish me luck for tomorrow.

～みはる～

Plate of Happiness

My plate of happiness:



Yes... this is the plate of my happiness. I have a library!!!! *tears of joy*

I have been working almost 20 days in a row, in frustration I might add, just to get this baby. I have come to the conclusion that constructing a bacterial library is anything but simple. The procedure is deceptively straightforward, but I had my downs (and ups!!) in constructing this library since January. Considering the deadline to my thesis is one month's time and my project was not going anywhere without one bloody library up, I was already at my wits end doing tons of complicated optimization experiments. But one look at this plate... I'm drown in delirium!

For the past 2 weeks I was either scowling at the computer, scribbling calculations on recycled paper, or doing transformation. Every night my colleagues would see me at my bench pipetting like a mad girl and transforming bacteria, that I have come to proclaim myself the E.coli 'transformer' of the lab.

After 2 whole weeks mind-boggling optimization, I finally constructed the library for the 8th time with all the optimal conditions. When I checked the plates in the incubator the next day, my eyes could not believe what I was looking at. I bounded out of the incubator room to my colleagues in the lab and screamed, "I have my library!!!"

I must have looked really silly dancing around in the lab in delirium, while my colleagues laughed and congratulated me for obtaining the pretty pretty precious colonies. The joy of a successful experiment!! I have never felt so happy in my FYP-life.

However, I kept my feet to the ground, and thought that it would be best to check the reproducibility of my concept. Feeling incredibly motivated, I constructed another library using the same concept and cells. And guess what I saw the next day??

EVEN MORE COLONIES!!

I have a feeling I would be delirious for the entire weekend.

To give you an idea why I should be delirious, compare the before (library done two weeks ago) and after (library done two weeks later):



Before



After

I'm in cloud nine. 幸せだ～～！

～みはる～

桜日和

Bleach ending theme 10 - Sakura Biyori -

桜日和
Performed by Hoshimura Mai

十六で君と逢い
百年の恋をしたね
ひらひらと舞い落ちる
桜の花びらの下で

逢いたくて駆け抜けた
陽のあたる急な坂道や
公園の隅二人の影は
今も変わらぬまま

君と僕と“桜日和”
風に揺れて舞い戻る
まるで長い夢から覚めたように
見上げた先は桃色の空

好きでした好きでした
笑顔咲き染めた君が
僕だけが知っていた
右側やわらかな居場所

桜の下の約束
「来年もここに来よう」って
何度も確かめあったけど
今も果たせぬまま

君と僕と“桜日和”
風にそっと甦る
君も今どこかで見てるのかなぁ
あの日と同じ桃色の空

追いかけた日々の中に
刻まれた足跡は
何よりもかけがえのない宝物

君と僕と“桜日和”
風に揺れて舞い戻る
とめどない想いが溢れ出して
涙がこみ上げた

君と僕と“桜日和”
風に揺れて舞い戻る
まだ見ぬ未来を胸に抱いて
見上げた先は桃色の空

Lyrics from Gendou
Images from Random Curiosity

～みはる～

Allegro Cantabile

Nodame Cantabile (anime) opening theme

Allegro Cantabile
Performed by Suemitsu and The Suemith

88の場面の中に
散らばった音掻き集めた手
言葉にならない思い並べた
五線譜の上 追い越した日々

交差していく 三度を重ね
ここに響かせてー

歌う様に真っ直ぐに
歌の上を伸びていく
他には何も出来ない
時の全て預けながら
自由に解き放たれた
素直に駆け巡る指
終わり無き クレッシェンドは深く
誰かの元へ向かう

目の前に開かれた世界
繰り返す新しいプレリュード

88の夢物語、落とした休符、変わるハーモニー
静かにそっと整えた息…
在るべき形 取り戻すまで

掻き消される 三度を重ね ここに響かせてー

歌う度に信じていた 歌の側を外れていく
インテンポで躓いて
縺れていく即興の中へ
引き返す道が消える 動かされる波が近く
失った声のメロディ 誰かの元へ向かう

目の前を閉ざしていく扉 悲しみは
積み上げられたエチュード

意識もなく尖らせて 掴んだ肩振り切った
いつまでも忘れないで 歌う如く心のまま
歌う様に真っ直ぐに 歌の上を伸びていく
終わり無き クレッシェンドは深く
誰かの元へ向かう

ステージの 端のピアニストへー
生きる事 こんな歌の全て
今この目の前に開かれた世界
繰り返す新しいプレリュード

Lyrics from Gendou

～みはる～

When Brahms meet Paganini... and Kang

Every Wednesday of the school term, a series of Lunchtime Concert is held in one of the lecture theaters in my campus. The university, in collaboration with an external sponsor, introduced this Lunchtime Concert programme as a move in exploration of (musical) arts. Invitation emails are sent to the campus community every week, for performances such as piano recitals, string quartets, traditional instrument performances, and all sorts related to musical art.

This Lunchtime Concert series had been going on for a couple of years now, and until today, never had I experienced it once. Either I did not have the time, or I simply do not bother (usually the latter :P ).

However, thanks to the influence of Nodame Cantabile drama, I had come to enjoy classical music. If I had the chance, I would like to watch a Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven's Symphony No.7, or Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2. One of the piano performances in the Nodame Cantabile live-action drama that piqued my interest was Yuuto-kun's playing of Brahm's Variations on a Theme by Paganini. Although he was a meanie in the drama, the technique was very impressive. Watching the scene, I could only think, "Wow.." The piece appeared technically difficult, but the sound was beautiful.

Thus, when I saw the invitation for the upcoming Lunchtime Concert was a Piano Recital by Juyeon Kang who will be performing Brahm's Variations on a Theme by Paganini, I was determine not to miss this one and only piano recital. Die die, also must go.



The performing pianist, Juyeon Kang, is a widely-travelled and highly sought after concert artist. She has a string of impressive credentials, and has been described as a pianist of "formidable technique and exquisite sound". I admit to having know nothing of her, but I definitely did not want to miss a live performance of Brahm's Variation on a Theme by Paganini regardless who the performing pianist is.

However, my gel electrophoresis ate up 15 mins of my time, thus when I reached the lecture theatre, Juyeon Kang had already begun her performance of Hadyn's Sonata in C. Although it was only an hour long, the recital was fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed all the pieces, especially Grieg's Wedding Day at Trouldhaugen and Brahm's Variation on a Theme by Paganini. The live performance of Brahms was beautiful. There was so much energy and spirit in the performance, that I could feel my pulse quickening at the crescendoes. Watching her play, I was impressed with the technique. Brahm's Variation of a Theme by Paganini is said to be one of the most virtuosic works of Brahms, and it is technically very difficult to play. Juyeon herself said that she took 3-4 years to master it! And she mastered it well, because I love her performance!

Now I'm just waiting for another pianist to hold a lunctime recital to perform Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 with a full-fledge orchestra......

PS: Did you know that Paganini is a historical violin virtuoso who was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span? That is considered an impossible feat even by today's standards and it was said that Paganini traded his soul to the Demon for this violinistic technique... In contrary, I think he's got some kind of genetic diseases that gave him long and flexible fingers to become such a virtouso.

～みはる～

合格できました！

去年した日本語能力試験が合格できました！

Yep, I passed my JLPT 3!!!
うれしい！！！
I have just received my score report telling me that I had passed the exam with a total score of 93%! This is quite unexpected! I was confident of passing, but never thought it would be with such a high score. I mean, afterall, I didn't have a proper preparatory course (one day of cramming, that was it!) and I did alot of guessing to the many questions which I have no clue at all. I must have been very lucky at guessing on the exam day, because I scored a 96.5% for my grammar. I totally sucked at grammar!!

Of course, I wouldn't have been able to even pass the exam without the excellent tutoring and dedication of my two Nihongo sensei. They have been the best teachers I ever had!
藤田先生、リー先生、本当にありがとうございました！

まあ、これから日本語の勉強もっとがんばります！
日本語が上手になるために、ちゃんと授業を出て、もっとたくさん事を勉強します。
もちろん、もっとたくさんアニメとドラマを見ることも大切なんですよね　：P
これからがんばります！！！

～みはる～

Bleach 117 - 初めの舞、月白

I've been waiting for this to be animated for a long long time:

舞え、袖の白雪！

image from Memento

～みはる～

Cooking Hazards

For the past few weeks, I have been preparing homecook food, and in the process, have been exposed to various cooking hazards. Let me share with you my top two hazards, and the solutions I have devised.

Top 2 hazards of food preparation:

1. Worm in vegetable

• Hazard:

When cleaning the rosette-bud lettuce called locally 'Eu Mak', beware of elastic earthworms hiding behind the ridges of the leaves. These eyeless, boneless, and limbless creatures are usually found burrowed in the juicy stems of the leaves and will wriggle fiercely when provoked.

• Solution:

Hold the rosette-bud vege an arm's length away (you don't want worms wriggling at your face), and use a knife to cut the stem of the bud. Let the leaf drop onto the sink (you don't want the worm to crawl onto your fingers). Check the leaf to ensure no worms are present, then turn the leaf over to check again (you don't want worms wriggling into your esophagus). If something maroon, long, elastic-looking, and is wriggling, pick the leaf with a forcep and dunk it in a yellow biohazard bag. Repeat the same for every leaf before rinsing with clean H2O. Place the yellow hazard bag in the incinerator.


2. Worm in vegetable

• Hazard:

When peeling sweet potato skin, beware of tiny, white worms burrowed in the tuber. Do not be fooled by the small size nor innocent white appearance of these wriggling things; they can be a menace to your sweet-potato-dessert preparation. These evil wrigglers can be found munching carbohydrates under the surface of the tuber skin, and will cause cardiac arrest to individuals peeling the tuber skin with a common kitchen peeler.

• Solution:

When washing the tuber under running tap water, check the surface for labyrinth-like marks on the tuber skin. If you see a lot of localized S-shape markings, immediately dunk the tuber into a yellow biohazard bag. Double-bag the biohazard bag, and throw it into the incinerator. Should you fail to notice these markings, and come face-to-face with something white and wriggling in the tuber, obey your reflexes, release the tuber from your grasp immediately (you don't want worms wriggling in your hands), throw boiling hot water over the tuber (you don't want worms crawling up the sink) and dispose the tuber in a yellow biohazard bag using a pair of thongs. Incinerate the biohazard bag IMMEDIATELY.



I think you get my point.

PS: Biohazard bags are optional and are replaceable with PP-type plastic bags.

～みはる～

SUEMITSU & THE SUEMITH - Allegro Cantabile

When the anime version of Nodame Cantabile premiered last January, I was quite apprehensive as to how JC Staff will be managing the music aspect of the animation. Nodame Cantabile is a classical music-themed piece of artwork, and the live-action drama had adhered to this theme fiercely. The opening and closing themes of the drama were Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue respectively. The use of these two original classical music recordings complemented the classical music focus of the drama, and as a result the significance and beauty of classical music was very well delivered in the drama.

However, almost all anime opening and ending themes either fall in the J-pop or J-rock basket, thus I was afraid the use of such contemporary recordings would not only ruin the classical music theme of Nodame Cantabile, but would simply sound plain weird. I mean, imagine rock music and Beethoven's Piano Sonata Pathetique together... it's just plain weird.

However, when I saw the opening of the first episode of Nodame Cantabile, I was pleasantly surprised by JC Staff's ingenuity. The opening theme is an upbeat song written and performed by Suemitsu & The Suemith called, Allegro Cantabile. I thought the track was very creative in that it was sort of a reference to an important track in the story, Nodame's lively rendition of Beethoven's Pathetique - Adagio Cantabile. The tune is quite infectious and to top it off, the opening sequence is very attractive (although quite reminiscent of Honey & Clover II's Fugainaiya opening sequence). They had also cleverly incorporated snippets of Beethoven's Symphony No.7 in the opening theme.

The Allegro Cantabile single has since been released by Suemitsu & The Suemith on 21st February. I had not listened to Suemitsu & The Suemith before, so I took it from the name that it is either a band or a group of 2. To my surprise, Suemitsu & The Suemith comprise of only 1 guy, Suemitsu Atsushi !!!　O.O

Anyway, I find the song pretty good and the PV is quite cool too. Watching it, you can't help wondering what the hell happened to the grand piano. Try throwing Nippon black paint over an ivory white grand piano?

Here's Suemitsu & The Suemith for you!

By the way, do you think Suemitsu-san actually played the song with such slippery fingers? There's no way I could hit the right keys with black paint all over my digits.

～みはる～

あいぞめ

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori Ending Theme - Aizome -

あいぞめ
Performed by Noto Mamiko

あさきゆめみじ　永久に　嘆きもせす

月の光　心　照らし出す
燃ゆる花の舞　道しるべ

絡みつく　あやまちの詩　胸をしめる

果てぬ川に手を挿し　流そう
想い　詰めた言の葉
藍に染めて

すれ違いが　心もろくする
居場所もないまま　風は吹く

赤い道　足取り重く　闇に向かう

一度　流せば　二度と帰らぬ
指が　まびく運命
藍に染めて

いくつ　明けない夜を　重ねて
やがて　藍の嘆きも
消え逝くのか

果てぬ川に手を挿し　流そう
色は匂へど　いつか
散りぬるもの

藍に染めて...

check out Memento for PV images

～みはる～

Anime: Kanon Ep 21

Since last autumn, I have been following Kyoto Animation's remake of the acclaimed anime 'Kanon'. The main plot of Kanon revolves around a high school guy named Aizawa Yuuichi and the snowy city of mystery and miracles in which he is currently residing in the present time frame. Yuuichi had lived in the city as a kid 7 years ago, but moved out with his family during his elementary years. Fast forward 7 years later, Yuuichi returned to the city, but mysteriously, he had little recollection about the city, nor any memory of his life in the city 7 years ago. However, since moving back to the city, he met a string of girls, who slowly trigger the return of his memories in the city. And it seems that we will soon find that his memories about the snowy city 7 years ago was a traumatic one.

I had not mentioned anything about watching Kanon, nor review it since its premiere on Japanese airwaves last autumn. Apart from not having the time, I find the story pacing very slow, and sometimes quite mundane. However, I still follow the series every week not only because the first production was a success (storywise, and also production wise), but particularly because I quite like Kyoto Animation's work. One of KyoAni's production which I liked best was the animation AIR. I love their artwork, fluid animation and soundtrack. The way they shoot the scenes create a subtle, yet incredible impact. Furthermore, this remake of Kanon boasts an impressive seiyuu (voice actor) cast: the male lead, Aizawa Yuuichi, is voiced by one of my favorites, Sugita Tomokazu. Other seiyuus include Horie Yui (Tohru of Fruits Basket, Naru of Love Hina), and Seki Tomokazu (Nobu of NANA, Chiaki of Nodame Cantabile).

Now, I admit that I had been watching the first 60% of the series impassionately. I do enjoy listening to Sugita Tomokazu's acting, especially the sarcastic jokes and dramatic demeanor. While each arc of the series is decently interesting, they were not over-the-top exciting. There's sort of like a degree of mildness and calm in the way KyoAni presented the story. However, watching the ending segment of Kanon episode 21 took my breath away. The way KyoAni introduce such a shocking turn of event in the calming pace they had adopted all this while is excellent.

Let me just highlight 2 particular segments I liked best in this episode:

1. Nayuki and yuki-usagi (snow bunny)

While I understood that Nayuki had all this while liked Yuuichi, it made me very sad when they showed the link between Nayuki's unhappy memories of the snow bunny with Yuuichi. I did not expect Yuuichi to have delivered such a harsh blow to her sincerity 7 years ago, and yet she can still like him after such a hurtful gesture. The scene showing Yuuichi's memory of the shattered snow bunny and the relevation that it was to Yuuichi whom Nayuki was giving the snow bunny was very good. I think KyoAni created the desired emotional impact of Yuuchi recalling the memory. I was impressed.




2. Akiko and strawberry cake

This segment blew my mind. I like the way they blended Yuuchi's realization of the snow-bunny thing with Akiko's accident. The scene of the accident really really shocked me. I cannot put it in words how well done I think the scene was done... you really have to watch the scene to feel the impact. And the way they zoom in on the ruined strawberry cake on the snow was an excellent reminiscence of the ruined yuki-usagi. The cliffhanger was the best I have seen in the series so far.



Plus, the preview was exciting. I especially love the part where Nayuki sat in a corner of her room, blaming herself for Akiko's accident and telling Yuuichi to leave her alone. The next episode is going to become emotionally intense and very interesting.



出ていって、ゆういち。わたしって人も会いたくない。一人でいたいから。

Unfortunately, it seems to me the best of the series is just beginning at the near ending of the anime. I find KyoAni very artistic in delivering emotionally wrenching scenes at the last few episodes of the series. The pattern seems to replicate from their previous production, AIR. The first half was quite calm, and slow paced, but the last 3 episodes made me cry, especially when they showed the link of reincarnation and the inevitable death of Misuzu. The part where Misuzu tethered towards her aunt at the 'goal' end was very very sad.

For the first time, I'm actually looking forward to the next episode of Kanon: Symphony.



All images belong to Memento & Random Curiosity.
Please do visit them for excellent reviews on Kanon.

cross posted in Miharu's Reviews.

～みはる～

Balance of 3

What if you can't graduate even after you have finished all your modules?

Does that sound stupid? Apparently, my university's system is showing me such case IS possible.
Only recently, I decided to try to apply for a Ph.D programme, and the application required me to send a copy of my transcript containing all my exam results. Now, I have completed all my modules last semester, and all was to be done is my thesis project this semester. So logically, I had fulfilled all the required academic units for graduation. I was so confident about the matter, I mean I never fail any module so by right I have no outstanding units to clear, I took it for granted and never double checked my accumulated academic units. When I did check it last week, I almost had a cardiac arrest: there's a balance of 3 academic units.

Naturally, I flipped out.
WHERE DID THE 3 UNITS COME FROM??

Clearly, the 3 units account for one module. I started panicking; it is impossible to register any subject now and I'm already in my FINAL semester. If the balance stays, I cannot graduate!!

When I did calm down, I began tabulating all my points. The math was correct, but the balance should not be there! I tried to check with my cohort, but most were not immediately available. When I finally did get hold of a friend, I realized that the system had failed to display one subject which I passed last semester, which was worth 3 academic units.

I flipped out again.
WHY IS IT NOT THERE?

When I called the university to check, they couldn't give me an immediate answer. After troubleshooting, they told me the result for the subject is pending.

Now, how can the result for the subject I passed last semester be pending NOW? Furthermore, I did not submit any appeal to review my grade. I was extremely pissed off by the fact that they withdraw my results from the system and did not bother to inform me, the examinee, about whatever they wanted to do with it!! What right is there of them to take the liberty of removing the grades and report it as 'pending' without even giving notice to the owner of the grade? My blood boil at the curt reply given, and immediately sent an email back at them demanding for an explaination.

Doesn't that tell you that there is a possibility graduation is not possible despite completing all modules? It must have been on fine prints in the admission letter.

～みはる～

All in 2 weeks

It's been a while since I've posted anything unrelated to lab-life, or any post for that matter in the past few weeks. Lots of things had been happening, and it's not just Chinese New Year.

Two weeks ago while having a barbeque reunion dinner with my housemates and friends in campus, I called home to find out that mum require an immediate surgery. Suffice to say, I was shocked at the urgency and that the reason the surgery commanded immediate action was because her haemoglobin level had dropped to a 'dangerously low' level. However, mum was quite reluctant to undergo the surgery given that her physician failed to give her a clear explaination that would have assisted in her decision making. I was certainly unhappy with that as I felt it was unprofessional of the doctor to not ensure the patient was well-informed before making decision regarding a major surgery. Hence, I decided to take a red eye flight out of Sg and return home to take mum to another physician for a second opinion.

Like I said, I was amidst a barbeque gathering, and thought it would be rude to leave early, given that my housemates had been trying to include me for the gathering (thank you AM, WW! ^.^). Besides, it has been such a long time since I've met up with so many friends and I was dying for a large helping of barbeque-ed marshmallows. And it's not everyday your seniors pay for the barbeque! (thank you 'old people'!! >_<). So we ate and had some good laughs, and by the time I was back in my room, it was way past midnight. I had only 4 hours before I had to leave for the airport, so I decided against sleeping for fear of failing to wake up in time. To kill time, I showered, did laundry, and watched drama. By the time I was to leave for the airport, I felt kinda woozy and lightheaded.

Fortunately for me, I managed to hail a cab quickly, clambered inside, and thought I could catnap while being chauffered to the airport. As I was drifting off, I suddenly felt the cab slowly decelerating. Almost as quickly, the driver stomped on the accelerator abruptly. I blearily opened my eyes, and to my horror the driver himself was DRIFTING OFF as well!!

Now let me tell you, taking a cab driven by someone equally as sleepy as you is certainly no fun ride. My veins nearly popped when I watched the cab veering off the lane and in the direction of the side curb. I didn't know if I should thank my lucky stars when the driver 'regain consciousness' just in time to steer the vehicle back in lane. He was obviously VERY sleepy as he kept rubbing his eyes and ate sweets to keep awake. In the end, I had a terribly unnerving 30-minute journey, all the time praying that we would reach the airport a.s.a.p. before he knocked out cold.

By the time I really did reach the airport, I was very very tired as I couldn't sleep a wink during the terror ride (could you?). It didn't help that the airport was obscenely bright, cheery and full of enthusiastic human all giddy for holiday tours, while I was grumpy and sleepy. After checked in, I grabbed a pretzel and a cup of tea before briskly headed off to the boarding gate. Plonking on a cushioned seat in front of the still-closed gate, I shut my eyes, ignored stares from cheery holidaymakers, tuned out the glaring lights and loud banter, and fell asleep. Fortunately I managed to wake up for boarding, and once inside the plane, I fell asleep even before the plane taxi-ed.

When I touched down, it was already morning, and I immediately accompanied mum to the hospital. We had to go through a series of check ups before the doctor sat us down to discuss about the diagnosis and prognosis. I was much more satisfied with the professionalism of this second doctor, and after hearing out her advice, mum decided to go ahead with the surgery. You see!?! Compassion and soft skills are essential in treating your patients! *fumes at first doctor*

I had to return to Sg immediately as I had not taken any leave from my supervisor. It had been a tiring weekend, and fell asleep again during the flight back. When I did reach my room, it was again way past midnight and all I wanted to do was fall onto bed.

So, the next morning I immediately talked to my supervisor regarding my situation and she was extremely kind to allow me leave until mum recovered considerably. I was very grateful for her kindness, because I was counting on the leave to go home to post-surgery care to mum until she can move around independently. After settling some leftover experiments, I immediately rushed out of lab to catch the next flight back to hometown again. When I called dad on the way out, I was shocked to find out the surgery is already underway. I was shocked because I felt the hospital did not execute the procedure properly and had led to distress to the patient & family, but since the operation is already in the process, I just leave the matters as it is and prepared to travel back home again.

It was already night when I reached home and rushed to the hospital. I then took over dad's shift to look after mum over the night. This is my first experience being a caregiver a.k.a. night-nurse, and I must say it is not easy. It was very difficult trying to keep awake, as I hadn't slept properly at all during the whole weekend. Besides mum was very weak and required attention throughout the night, so it was quite a challenge.

Fortunately the surgery went well without complications, and mum has since gotten better, thanks to all well-wishers. I had taken a long leave to assist mum as long as possible, and had learnt many things along the way. A caregiver's role is not to be taken lightly, and I have come to respect their attentiveness and compassion.

This year's Chinese New Year was comparatively much simpler and quieter than previous years, but just as enjoyable. It was nice to have reunion gatherings because with all work and study overseas, we had hardly have time together as a family. I get to view New Year from my parents' perspective: polishing urns, preparing prayer paraphenalia, vegetable marketing, scaling fishes, hovering over hot stoves, oily pots, endless cooking - basically lots of HARDWORK! The goodness of homemade food and clean altars does not come easy!

Mum had since gotten better from her surgery, but I'm still sticking around home for sometime until she has recuperated enough to return to her routine indepedently. At the moment, I hope my pet E.coli sits in the freezer obediently till I get back to lab working with them!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

～みはる～

A Plasmid Fairytale

My experiments lately keep bumping into dead ends, and while searching for information online, I came across this very interesting site. The allegory is very relevant to what I'm currently doing, and I can't help laughing at the personification of the bacterial molecules. I'm sure bioscience students, and those who are not but understand the terms, will find this tale funny XD. Enjoy.


The wise molecular biologist tells us the tale:

Once upon a time, a plasmid met a cell, and they struck up a conversation. Saith the plasmid, "Kind cell, I bring thee a gene for antibiotic resistance, and if you let me in, I shall repay you by showing you how to make an enzyme that might save your life one day." The cell replied with annoyance, "What use hath I for the likes of thee? My food is all gone, I'm freezing my pili off, and you think my biggest problem is antibiotics? Maybe you're just a selfish gene, looking for a cell to make copies of you. Begone!" The plasmid smoothed out his supercoils, dodged a DNase, and tried to think of a suitable reply.

Just then, a massive wave of thermal energy struck them both, and it was all he could do to not lose his footing, standing as he was on the cell membrane. The plasmid trembled, partly to distribute the energy uniformly to his vibrotational degrees of freedom, but mostly at the thought of how painful thermal denaturation might be. Fortunately, it was not coming to that. Not this time. The temperature was high enough to pop a few hydrogen bonds, and his strands were breathing a bit, but he was covalently closed after all. He could handle it!

The cell was not so lucky, however. His membrane, which had been reasonably firm to this point, began to swirl and form vortices, and lost its smooth surface. The cell had gotten used to the cold temperatures by boosting the fraction of short chain and unsaturated fatty acids in his membrane. While it gave the membrane a good consistency in the icy cold, it was completely wrong for this new, higher temperature. The van der Waals interactions weren't strong enough to maintain cohesion, and errant lipids were now leaping through the bilayer like divers at a mosh pit. Huge patches of the membrane were involuting, bringing massive gulps of medium inside. The cell was just seconds away from a complete membrane breach!

Then, as quickly as it had started, the problem was over. The buzz of thermal energy was drawn away by some unseen entropic sink, and dissipated. The membrane returned to its glassy-smooth state. The plasmid was now inside the cell, having been carried through the membrane in its moment of weakness, but the cell was too preoccupied to notice the uninvited guest. The cell was using his last remaining energy to bail out the excess liquid, and set his ion gradients to rights. When he thought he could do no more, that his determined course would be senescence and death, a warm flow of fresh medium restored his spirits.

"Ah! Tryptone, and yeast extract", he said as he gratefully derepressed half a dozen operons. His ribosomes got right to work, making the enzymes that would help to catabolize the new food source and restore the structure of the cell to full health. He almost exclaimed, "I thought Darwin had me for sure that time!" but being a cell with little memory he had already forgotten the privations of a few minutes earlier. Thirty minutes passed, and he found himself cast onto a wide surface that was warm and rich in nutrients.

"Not bad", he said. I could live like this for generations!" But then, the horrible sounds of dying cells reached him. All around him, his brethren were being killed by an unseen attacker. An antibiotic was there, and was destroying the entire population. Oh the humanity! He braced himself for death, but then ... nothing happened. He was alive!

"Remember me?", said the plasmid. "I told you that I might save your life one day, and now it has come to pass." The plasmid, which had gone unnoticed since the thermal catastrophe, had been copied several times and transcribed by the cellular machinery. It had provided a gene that encoded an enzyme that destroyed the antibiotic before it even got into the cell. Although more antibiotic was diffusing into the neighborhood, the enzyme was on the job, and prevented it from doing any damage.

"Yes, you were right", said the cell. "I am grateful that you transformed me, and now that I have a logical explanation for my good health, I don't have to develop survivor guilt either. Stick with me, plasmid, and I'll make sure you are provided with a high copy number."

The generations passed, and the cell divided many times. Each time there was fission, the two daughter cells received an inheritance of plasmid copies. There was widespread prosperity.

I would say "They lived happily ever after", but sadly that is not the end of the story. The daughter cells grew into a prodigious colony, and soon had destroyed so much of the antibiotic in the immediate vicinity that the real danger had passed. Some cells that had not perished in the original attack even managed to survive and grow nearby - little "satellite colonies" seeking refuge from the high levels of antibiotic elsewhere.

Then the cells in the big colony became lazy. The plasmid was not replicated to the same high copy number - it no longer served the interests of the cell to do so. Sometimes, daughter cells did not inherit even a single copy of the plasmid! As the colony aged and grew, the proportion of cells that carried the plasmid became less and less.

The colony actually believed itself to be quite progressive on this point. Some of the more strident cells even argued: "Why should young cells be forced to make enzymes that they don't need?" They said "We want to evolve higher order characteristics, not merely regurgitate the knowledge that served our great-great-great grandcell!" Before long it was unfashionable to carry the plasmid, though a few still did, but the colony grew faster without the added responsibility of the added synthesis.

One day, a toothpick scraped the colony from a plate and carried it high into the sky. "At last," the progressive cells thought, "we are entering a bold new era in which we are going to be able to realize our true genetic potential!" The toothpick was dropped into a tube of fresh medium. The fresh medium had fresh antibiotic.

What happened next is almost too horrible to tell. The cells that still carried the plasmid lived of course. They produced the enzyme that destroyed the antibiotic. The cells that had not inherited the plasmid were unworried at first, because they thought that a protective shield of enzyme could be built by the others, but being in liquid medium there was no hope for them. The antibiotic was not limited by diffusion, as it had been on the plate, and they were soon overcome.

The few wise cells that had not lost their plasmid went on to eternal storage in glycerol stocks, and were written about in books and famous journals. They were grown in huge 10,000 liter fermentation tanks, and provided with the very richest medium that had ever been made!

The end.


～みはる～

Colony, where art thou?

Creating a molecular library is no easy feat. I almost landed myself in a phenomenal agar plating exercise.

Finally after a month of preparatory work, I was ready for my first trial run of molecular library construction. I was pretty optimistic, because I had everything carefully planned, right down to the number of eppendorf tubes that I had to use. I even took the pain to read several different protocols and scrutinize my experiment planning from all (perceived) possible angles. The only thing I did not do was read the directions of how to use the commercial competent cells properly. When I actually did, I came out with this mind-blowing numbers:

To make 1 library, I need:

• 400 eppendorf tubes for cell transformation
• 2000 agar plates for spreading of library culture

Because I have 7 library combinations, I need:

• 2800 eppendorf tubes for cell transformation
• 14000 agar plates for spreading of library culture

Essentially, I have to transform 2800 tubes of cells and spread 14000 agar plates in one go.
Say I take 1 minute to spread one agar plate, it would take me 233 hours, which is approximately 24/7 for 10 days, to finish spreading all the plates.

-_-'''

That is if I sit at the biosafety cabinet (BSC) for 10 days straight without leaving the BSC even for a split second.

My eyes nearly popped out when I saw the ridiculous figures. Forget the BSC-thing, even if I put all the incubators in the lab together, there isn't sufficient place to incubate 14000 plates!!

Now don't even entertain the thought of me spreading 14000 plates. Anybody knows that is quite impossible to be done. However, my supervisor, mentor, colleagues and myself had a good laugh at the scale of the experiment. We then worked out an alternative strategy to do the experiment, MINUS 14000 plates. *phew...*

So, after tweaking the protocol a little, I run the trial experiment at a manageable scale. I followed the recommended protocol strictly with hopes to generate as many colonies as promised by the company protocol. When I put in the plates in for overnight incubation, I was quite optimistic and very hopeful to see a lawn of colonies when I return the next day. I mean, afterall, they did say I'm supposed to obtain millions of colonies!

I waited and waited and waited till the hour came, ran to the incubator excitedly to take out my plates. どきどき。My heartbeat increased as I anticipated the lawn of E.coli on my plates. Chuckling gleefully, I reached for the plates and turned them over for a good look....... NO COLONY! I reached for another stack of plates..... ALSO NO COLONY! My heart sank as I reached for the final 3 stacks.... SPARSE COLONIES!

"Oh nooooo, what had happened to my cells?? I have no library??!! Even with using the most competent cells?? Dieeee......," - was all that was running in my head.

I supposed research isn't without experimental failures. Now I'm tweaking my strategies again and hopefully my next round of trial will bear fruit... or rather, fat juicy colonies.

Don't tell me I really have to spread 14000 plates?....

～みはる～