My 100th post in this blog. I've been a blogger since 2007 but I have changed my blog so many times. Mostly because I'm really good at feeling sorry for myself and after a long time of feeling sorry for myself, I always realise it's time for change and I change my blog. I like this blog though. It's... preppy. :P
I really want to tell you about my final year project. I was assigned to it last Monday, and lucky me I got my first pick. :)
My topic is "Prevalence of lactose intolerance and its association with lactase-phlorizin hydrolase gene (LCT) variants among Malaysian subjects."
Which basically means in layman's term I have to find the change in this particular part of the gene that makes people not tolerant to dairy products.
For those sciency ones, lactase is the intestinal enzyme responsible for digestion of the milk sugar lactose. Lactase gene expression declines dramatically upon weaning in mammals and during early childhood in humans (lactase nonpersistence). Most humans lose the ability to digest lactose and become lactose intolerant by the time they are about 10 years old. In some populations, people continue to produce this enzyme even in their adulthood.
The ability to digest lactose in adults is an autosomal dominant hereditary condition caused by the persistence of lactase activity in the small intestine after weaning. The frequency of lactase persistence varies widely in human populations. It is generally found at high frequencies in populations of European descent while at low frequencies in the native populations of Australia and America, and in the Asia and Africa.The mechanisms controlling lactase production were disputed for many years. Recently, a research, using linkage disequilibrium and haplotype analysis, have identified a C/T transition which located -13910 bp upstream from exon 1 of the human lactase gene (LCT) that are completely associated with lactase persistence/ nonpersistence.
I am working with the C-13910-T gene polymorphism.
My work is to collect samples of DNA from around 100 people, and see if they have the C or the T SNP in their gene. In Hai-ming Sun et al, the authors report complete correlation between the lactase persistence phenotype and the presence of the T variant allele. So if they have the T and not the C, they have lactose persistence. If they have the C, they have a problem with dairy. There are two parts to my project. One is the gene work. And the other is using basic clinical studies to see if they are really lactose tolerant or not.
This is as far as I understand, and as far as I have researched.
I still have a long way to go in terms of my experiment because mostly, all this info comes from a few days of research and I have like 3 months more to figure out my methodology, pros and cons of my research and how effective my studies will be. I have decided I will not be shot down by my soon to be examiners :)
In another note, which happens much earlier than my project is my internship. My internship starts on the 26th of September. And I work in this tiny cute lab in Ipoh. The awesome thing is that they will be sending me to their KL branch for 2 weeks. Which is very very nice. The only complicated part of my job is that I will be travelling from Ipoh everyday, which is awful awful... I just hope I can make it.
And what's happening way earlier than that is my FINALS. Which is less than a week from now. I am doing extremely well in 3 subjects, average in 2 and not very good in one of them. But I will pass them all, probably maintain my 3ish GPA like last semester and honestly, I AM SUPER PROUD OF MYSELF!!!
*pats myself on the back*
I only wish my parents saw how great I am doing. And I wish they were capable of being proud of me. And also, I wish I could talk about this to my boyfriend. His brain shuts down whenever I start talking science, and it's not his fault. He's just not wired for sciency stuff.
So, that's my life. Not that I have nothing else going on, I have all this to take all of my time. Which I actually like. I spent way too much time impressing others I forgot what I really liked. I like research. I like science. I like being badass like this. When I was young and finally got internet connection and a printer, I spent all my paper printing about HIV. I knew about HIV way before I learned about it. I wanted to cure it. I was doing so much 'research' that my mother thought I thought I had HIV. She was worried sick. Which is kinda funny and hateful at the same time. I like to learn. Its the one thing I am good at. I'm badass at partying and clubbing and being destructive and all that jazz but everytime I do it I feel like I have lost a part of me. Maybe I'm just getting too old for that stuff. hah!
So, that's my life. Not that I have nothing else going on, I have all this to take all of my time. Which I actually like. I spent way too much time impressing others I forgot what I really liked. I like research. I like science. I like being badass like this. When I was young and finally got internet connection and a printer, I spent all my paper printing about HIV. I knew about HIV way before I learned about it. I wanted to cure it. I was doing so much 'research' that my mother thought I thought I had HIV. She was worried sick. Which is kinda funny and hateful at the same time. I like to learn. Its the one thing I am good at. I'm badass at partying and clubbing and being destructive and all that jazz but everytime I do it I feel like I have lost a part of me. Maybe I'm just getting too old for that stuff. hah!
So, back to my research and studies :) much to tell later :)
