Nerdy Science Blog

Dr. Chua Tock Hing was my lecturer for the unit “THE DESIGN OF SCIENCE” back in Monash Malaysia University.  He was kind of funny in his own way and he can remember names of almost every students in the lecture (around 100).

Monash University:

According to Monash University researcher Dr Chua Tock Hing, the particular strain of bacteria was found in the Malaysian state of Pahang and produces a toxin that kills mosquito larvae by destroying their gut tissue.

Toxin was isolated from the strain of Bacillus thurigiensis bacteria.  The isolated toxin only affect mosquito larvae, according to Dr. Chua.  It was a joint research between Monash University’s Sunway campus and the Malaysian government’s Institute of Medical Research.

I would prefer this method to control mosquito population (if it really works and doesn’t cause any other environmental problem) to using chemical pesticides, which is bad to our health as well.

I remembered one sarcastic thing Dr. Chua mentioned during his lectures, which was that he was the first and only person in Monash Malaysia campus who had paper published in Nature.

Sometimes nerds are attractive, but don’t do that often.

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From 2007 April Reader’s Digest:

Because he’s a chemist and I’m a personal trainer, my fiance and I don’t always agree about what eating healthy means.  I prefer foods with less fat and fewer calories while he watches out for chemicals and additives.

We were grocery shopping one day and I asked him to go and get some butter.

“Which kind,” he asked, “cancer or heart attack?”

I met Peter Doherty today!  I really love his books.

He was invited by Monash to give a talk for SCI2010, which I did the unit last year.  A friend told me he will be coming, and I went to the lecture theatre there.  While waiting outside the lecture hall, there came Peter Doherty, and he seemed lost.

I felt excited, and I went to talk with him.  Though it was not a long time, but our conversation covered Malaysia’s recent election results, Malaysia education system and universities and many others.  A brief talk with him totally change my perception that he only talk about T cells.  In fact none of our conversation cover anything related to immunology.

His talk in the lecture is inspiring, and also not boring at all.  There was something he said in the lecture that I can’t be more agree with.  “Every science has its own language.”

He is the first Nobel laureate I talked with.  It’s pretty exciting.

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