Nerdy Science Blog

It was the healthcare that went wrong. At that time, medicine and surgery were not as advanced as now. The food they ate might be too organic as they didn’t cook them, hence allowing bacteria and viruses invaded their not so evolved immune system. They got plenty of exercise, or maybe overworked, which cause them exhausted. The air might be clean but the water might not be as pure as they thought.

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The Age:

The Intersuisse Biotechnology Index has posted its worst yet quarterly drop since its inception 12 years ago, falling by 23.9 per cent because of the continued decline of the stock market.

The result, for the three months to March 31, was the worst quarterly drop since the index’s inception in 1996.

By comparison the NASDAQ Biotechnology index fell 2.7 per cent and the All Ordinaries index fell by 14.3 per cent over the same period.

I don’t think it’s the end of biotechnology in Australia, as there are still some companies having increased index price.  However the majority of the biotech companies had their index dropped.

BERNAMA:

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) — Technology Park Malaysia (TPM), which is expected to play a bigger role in the development of the biotechnology sector, has to go out and explore the opportunities in the states, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.

He said TPM Corp Sdn Bhd’s subsidiary, TPM Biotech Sdn Bhd, was viewed as the “powerhouse” of the biotech sector and it has to reach out to states with rich biodiversity such as Sabah and Sarawak, and tap their indigenous medical knowledge.

“There is a need for TPM to decentralise its services and to reach out to the states, and we hope it will do it during the remainder of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) period.

“We don’t have to follow the modus operandi of the past. They (TPM) can perhaps work with the state governments who would provide land and facilities, or other business networking,” he told reporters after paying a visit to TPM here Thursday.

He said the government wanted to focus on the biotech sector and the pioneering works that had been done by TPM had set the pace for the projects undertaken under 9MP.

“In the last three years since TPM set up its biotech segment, 192 companies had sought its assistance and services, 42 had gone into manufacturing or production via TPM and three had international-level collaborations with pharmaceutical companies,” he said.

Ongkili said TPM sent a team to Sabah recently to explore opportunities in developing biotech industry within the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) and would do a similar feasibility study in Sarawak.

TPM president/chief executive, Datuk Mohd Azman Shahidin, said following the visit, it collaborated with the Institute of Development Studies Sabah to study whether it was socially and economically viable to grow the sector under SDC.

He said the ministry planned to set up a National Innovation Foundation to acknowledge and reward people who have come up with innovations that add value to a product or livelihood of the people.

“I will discuss further details with the Cabinet which will make the final decision,” he said.

TPM is one of the world’s most advanced and comprehensive centres for research and development of knowledge-based industries. TMC Corp is a government-linked company.

– BERNAMA

I do hope Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili can make science jobs one of the highest pay in the states as well.

What is “cameltoe“?  From the word itself, you can guess that it’s the toe of the camel.  I first learnt about this word was from the movie “Weatherman”, and recently I heard it again from South Park.  Cameltoe is a slang refering to woman wearing tight fitting clothes and showing the outline of vulva.

Recently when I was in the immunology tutorial, my friends and I noticed that there was this guy wearing a really tight outfit, and showing the legendary cameltoe.  He was presenting the development of lymphocytes.  Then his cameltoe reminded us of “antibodies”.

As we know, the immunoglobulin molecules are composed of light chains and heavy chains, which formed the Y shape.  That looks exactly like a cameltoe!  Each immunoglobulin G (IgG) is consisted of two light chains and two heavy chains (like the picture on the left).  Using cameltoe to teach antibodies is really an interesting and memorable way, and that doesn’t make your lecture boring.

I just learn that “cameltoe” is not suitable to use on him, as that is for female.  “Moose knuckle” is the one what is used on males.

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