You are unique

I used to harbour this secret ambition of becoming a geneticist one day. Doing all sorts of cutting-edge experiments and finding cures for cancer and AIDS……but then my mom was like saying “Where can find work wan?” and my hope was dashed. Nevermind, this door closed and another opened for me……..I have to say that I have always been fascinated with Biology and the aspect i find most interesting, besides the Darwin's evolution theory, is genetics.

How is it when 2 persons mate and you get offsprings that inherit certain characteristics from you and your partner.....the traits can be good (like how tall you going to be, hair colours and eyes) or the bad traits such as genetic diseases.

Colour blindness, haemophilia (blood cannot clot properly, resulting in serious bleeding), thalasemia (also a type of red blood cell disorder) are some of the common conditions passed down from generation to generation.....often afflicting male offsprings and the females ended up as carriers for the defective gene.

When I was still schooling, i used to tease my sister by telling her that she must have been adopted for knowing how to roll her tongue, while I can't. And my husband always nudge me to 'practise' rolling my tongue, thinking that it is some kind of skill that i could pick up with just a few tries. "Hey! it is either you can do it or you can't. It is in the genes" i retorted.

see link
http://www.le.ac.uk/ge/genie/vgec/sc/inheritance.html

However, family studies also demonstrate that tongue-rolling is not a simple genetic character as studies done on identical twins show that it can be influenced by both genetics and the environment.......so i guess you can try to practise and see whether you can indeed roll or twist your tongue....who knows?

You can also try this fun experiment on how genetics play a role in shaping the way you are (see link)

http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/handouts/genetics.html

Oil essentials

Oil essentials

The next time you go grocery shopping for cooking oils, do bear this in mind.

Would you buy a designer doughnut?

Apparently these doughnuts fetch about US $ 5 - 6 a piece in the States.

In Malaysia, we can see that Dunkin Donut is not doing too good, probably beaten by the cutesy cupcakes and also the more 'classy' doughnut franchises such as J & Co and Krispy Kreme which are mushrooming around the city. Singapore has also got a famous franchise called Donut Factory (which in my humble opinion serves one of the best doughnuts, though the KK original glazed is also tasty).

Perhaps one day, we should have sambal ikan bilis doughnut, hawaiian chicken doughnut and dragon fruit doughnut (Malaysian flavours)......

Healthy peepers during birding

Pic above: A white ring around the pupil (cholesterol ring)

Once again, we were back in FRIM. This time we went birding for a total of six hours. We managed to spot and identify about 20 species of birds. My favourite bird is the Black-bellied Malkoha (All the Malkohas have long tails and they usually fly in pairs). Another favourite of mine is the Lesser-racket Drongo (as you can see this male bird has two quill-like feathers for a tail).



Besides FRIM, we have also visited the forest trail in Kota Damansara. However, we did not spot that many birds there. We have better luck standing at the pond located just along the road where many birds such as the Asian glossy starlings love perching on dead tree trunks.

I totally need to get a good pair of bins (short for binoculars) as my current one seems to be making me dizzy. All these bird-watching is also taking its toll on my eyes. I guess it is probably due to all the eye-straining searches for these birds in the wild. Now back to the health part……….

If you noticed, when a baby is born, the white of the eyes are usually clean and clear. As we grow older, the daily onslaught of pollution, harmful UV rays, smoking, alcohol and lack of sleep may result in red blood vessels showing up in the white of the eyes. Some herbalists can pinpoint the disorders one is facing just by looking into the white of the eyes. Squiggly-looking blood vessels, yellow spots and sometimes brown spots can mean different things in the field of sclerology. You can also see white ring (or cholesterol ring) that encircles the pupil which usually means that the person is suffering from cholesterol build-up of the arteries.

Eyes are the window to the soul and having a pair of healthy peepers is important. Students, busy working executives as well as people involved in close work and hobbyists (esp those into birds, knitting, sewing and reading) should consider supplementation with herbal remedies such as Blueberries, Bilberries and kei chi (also known as wolfberries). In fact, all sorts of berries with dark purple bluish colours are fantastic for eye health as they contain an eye antioxidant called anthocyanin.

Many people simply consume these berries fresh, or make them into jams and as for the kei chi, the Chinese always love to add them into soups and ‘tong sui’ (a type of sweet beverage).

Follow these simple steps for management of eye strain and tiredness:

1. When traveling, it is advisable to stop for a rest or a short nap during a long drive. This will freshen you up before you hit the road again
2. Try exercising your eyes by moving them in a circular motion without moving your head. Do this after a long day of reading or computer use or every ½ hour of close work
3. Protect your eyes from strong UV rays with a pair of UV-coated sunglasses
4. Get your eyes regularly checked by an eye specialist
5. For those wearing contact lenses, do not wear disposable contacts longer than recommended.
6. Use eye drops to keep the eyes moist and always wash your hands thoroughly before taking out or putting in your contact lenses
7. Don't face the air-con vent directly as this will cause dry eyes.
8. Airplane travel often leaves your eyes dry. Humidity in an aircraft cabin is usually less than 20%. Apart from drinking lots of water to rehydrate the skin, limit the intake of alcohol and caffeinated beverages as they will cause you to lose fluids.
9. Wear glasses instead of contact lenses
10. Assess your work station to ensure a good ergonomic set-up. Ergonomically unfriendly office furniture may lead to eye strain
11. Monitor screens should be placed away from direct sunlight or use a glare filter