This better be worth it

Another of my lab presentations has been posted here. I've finally found labeling conditions and am beginning double labeling of DnaK T136C/S423C/C15S for FRET experiments!

Medical school secondary applications are dominating most of my free time right now. Essay questions range from "Describe an ethical dilemma you encountered and how you resolved it" to "Write an autobiography in 7500 characters or less." Quite an exhausting process. I get envious when people here tell me that medical school requires only decent test scores and grades.

Hazelnuts, anyone?

This week I attended a presentation entitled "1.4 Billion Reasons," a two-hour-plus epic event led by a young Australian named Hugh Evans and his Global Poverty Project (GPP). It was held on Wednesday evening at the Dunedin Town Hall, a large historic auditorium near the Octagon. Probably a few hundred people were in attendance, mostly students. After an introductory guitar performance and some opening remarks from the Otago GPP coordinator, the strapping Mr. Evans strode onto the stage with a big smile and friendly wave. His first question was "Why are you here?" and encouraged us to discuss the answer with our neighbor. Then he asked several attendees, including a 9-year-old, to come on stage to say why they were here. After the nine-year-old came up, Hugh Evans shook his head for the next thirty seconds and repeated "Wow that's amazing, that's amazing." He proceeded to tell a story about how he had traveled around the developing world with World Vision as a teenager and become inspired to "solve" world poverty. He went on to show statistics that suggested that the percentage of the world living on less than US$1.25 per day had been cut in half since 1950. A common theme of the talk was that we had made major progress in reducing poverty in the last 50 years and so we should be able to eliminate poverty all together within our lifetime. Of course the absolute number of poor people has dramatically increased in the last 50 years.

With oversimplified examples (focusing on Africa) interspersed among plenty of corny jokes, Evans told us how corruption and violent conflict have breeded severe poverty in the developing world. One comment I found insightful was that a critical barrier to advancement in the Third World is subjugation of women, who do the majority of work yet get the least reward in terms of property and human rights. He also revealed major problems with American budgeting priorities, with billions being spent on the Iraq War when only a fraction of that amount is needed for important development projects around the world. But overall Evans failed to provide us with a clear plan for eliminating poverty. Do we give money to governments or local NGOs, or do we send our own organizations to build wells and help farmers use more efficient agricultural methods? How do we end long-standing conflict among various groups like the rival tribes in Kenya? How are we going to deal with climate change and its affects on agriculture? What about population growth and the recent food shortages? It seems to me like poverty is a very complex issue and unlike global warming, there is not one clear solution. Finally, Evans had promised to tell us some new ways that we could combat global poverty in our everyday lives, but none of his ideas were particularly insightful: basically volunteer, donate, and buy fair trade products.

Today I completed the Snack Study that I was enrolled in to determine if hazelnuts have beneficial effects on blood lipid levels. Since I was in the control group and received no snacks over the three-month study period, I was given a two-month supply of hazelnuts. A previous study suggested that like many other nuts, hazelnuts are in fact heart healthy. On a related health note, I attended a interesting seminar earlier this week by a professor from the University of Washington on chemoprevention. He showed us study after study with evidence that taking regular supplements of folate, vitamin B, and calcium is actually harmful in terms of cancer and heart disease risk. Eating lots of fruit and vegetables, however, is beneficial. His hypothesis was that our body's homeostasis mechanisms are set according to the foods we eat early in life. So when people start taking supra-physiological amounts of one vitamin later in life, the body's natural homeostasis is overcome. Taking just one supplement can facilitate positive selection of cancer cells that are stimulated by the supplement.

Last weekend I went out with a couple guys from the lab to celebrate the publication of Peter's NMR structure of Psb27, a protein in Photosystem II. Peter's structure will be published back-to-back with a nearly identical structure from a German group that was sumbitted to Biochemistry on the same day! It was also Malcolm's graduation that weekend, and it was my 22nd and 5/6 birthday, so there really was a lot to celebrate.

Dancing enzymes

I've discovered a new hobby for myself--making videos of dancing crystal structures. This week was the debut for my first two films. Tuesday all of the fourth year honors students gave presentations on their research and since I am a one-year Masters student, I presented as well. Some of the dance moves in the video in the presentation actually resembled conformational changes of DnaK. As a present for giving presentations, all of the students received metal spatulas with their initals engraved in!

Then today I delivered a Biochemistry Department journal club presentation on cellulosic ethanol. I talked about a paper from a group at Cal Tech who engineered a group of thermostable cellulase enzymes. Currently we have only slow and inefficient enzymes for breaking down cellulose into sugars. In the video at the end of today's presentation, cellulase's dance moves are in no way meant to depict the function of the actual enzyme. Both presentations have been posted here. They are only in pptx format because converting them to ppt format disrupts a lot of formatting.

Southern drawl meets "i is the only vowel"

Building a house is amazingly fun. This Saturday we just about finished the wooden framework including wall panels, ceiling battens, trusses, and roof purlins. All day we climbed over the giant jungle gym/house in construction, nailing in various wooden elements. My hammering skills are improving markedly; now I can pretty much nail in from any angle if needed. Also, the winter chill seems to be mostly behind us; I worked up a pretty good sweat. The link for the Habitat for Humanity Blog.

On Saturday evening I went to dinner with friends Emma, Nick, and two girls from the University of Western Georgia. They are here on a six-week missionary crusade in connection with their college church group. They were very friendly (and their accent seemed very out of place in NZ) but halfway through dinner Nick brought up the subject of religion after we had thoroughly discussd beforehand that we would not do so. I felt like Jon Stewart screaming NOOOOO in an attempt to stop President Obama from a speaking blunder. So we had to talk all about good and evil and doing good works and evolution etc. etc. I can believe in some evil force that is forcing me to say "eh" with uncomfortable frequency in conversation these days. Fortunately there were no hard feelings and we all went to a DJ competition after dinner. From there I headed to the Otago Science Ball, which was a semi-formal event held in a big dance/music club south of the Octagon. There was good music, a pyrotechnics show, cheap alcohol, and good company. It reminded me of parties at Williams where you know most of the people there and there's a really fun communal atmosphere. But I also met several new people who in general were better traveled and more interesting to talk to than the majority of students I've come across. I didn't make it home until 4 am.

I've started a once-weekly African drumming class sponsored by the Otago clubs and societies organization. So far we've learned the three basic sounds on the drum and a couple of pieces. The drums are quite beautiful, made of either goat or cow hide.

The next few weeks will be busy as I start working in earnest on secondary applications for medical school, prepare for a biochemistry journal club presentation, and prepare for a formal research presentation as part of my MSc along with my other demonstrating, class, and labwork duties. However, I'm hoping to take a trip to the Abel Tasman track during the mid-semester break in a few weeks.

Lab Presentation

Here is a link to a presentation I delivered at today's lab meeting describing my research over the past few weeks.
http://sites.google.com/site/nuclearzucchini/

The only other news this week is that the weather has warmed a bit, and I discovered the $3 lunch at the student clubs and societies center. You get a hot plate of tasty vegetarian food plus friendly smiles from the Hare Krishnas who organize the lunch.

Lab Sauna--Yeeaaahhhh!

When I arrived in lab this afternoon, there was a centimeter of water on the floor, the windows were steamed up, and it felt like a sauna. Pete and Anshul had been in lab since this morning and told me that when they arrived there was twice as much water on the floor. They spent hours mopping everything up with a campus security officer and moving boxes off the floor. A hot water pipe seems to have burst and is still leaking; it's a mixed blessing because it's cold and snowy outside but it feels like an indoor swimming pool in here. We're considering charging admission, as I know at least several students with no source of heat whatsoever in their flat.

On Wednesday evening last week a massive earthquake hit Fiordland in the South Island of New Zealand, triggering landslides and some damage in the ski resort of Queenstown. When the quake hit I was in my room changing. I came out and my flatmates Nick and Estel exclaimed that they had just felt an earthquake. I was sure they were pulling my leg. But later that night it was on the 10:30 news. Since they had been sitting down on the couch they had felt it, but since I was standing up I didn't feel a thing. I was pretty disappointed I missed my first earthquake ever.

On Saturday Kyle and I reported for duty as usual at the Habitat House. Last week we erected the wall frames so it is starting to look like a genuine house. This week we adjusted and reinforced the frames in their precise positions. The roof will be going on soon! Also on Saturday evening I submitted my medical school application to AMCAS, the online common application service. It was tempting to celebrate, but I realized that I've only just started the whole process since I still have secondary applications and interviews ahead. This morning (Sunday) I went for a longish run in preparation for the Dunedin Half-Marathon in September. Completing this race would be a minor miracle after my three knee surgeries. This afternoon I drove out on the peninsula with flatmate Nick. I showed him Sandymount, the Chasm, and Lover's Leap, which all remain beautiful despite the winter chill.

Adventures in Oz

Wow, what a trip. I'll begin at the beginning. From my last post, I was headed off to Kate's 21st birthday party in downtown Melbourne. It took me forever to find the Lustre Lounge because it was located on Flinders Lane as opposed to Flinders Street. Apparently Melbourne is notorious for its confusing street names. When I finally arrived Kate's family and friends were delivering speeches about how great she was. Once we got through that I took advantage of the open bar, hors d'oeurves, and gigantic chocolate cake. It was a fun night with Kate's friends from Otago the last to leave. The next morning I picked up some last-minute supplies for my walk, walked around Melbourne a bit more, and at 7 pm caught a train from Southern Cross west to Geelong. From Geelong I transferred to a bus that took me further west along the coast to Apollo Bay, arriving at 11:15 pm. It was the last stop for the bus, and I was the only remaining passenger at that point.

I stepped off the bus in the resort town of Apollo Bay and walked past the deserted beachfront shops, failing to lay eyes upon another living soul or a map of any kind that could direct me to the Apollo Bay Recreation Reserve, where I had booked a campsite for the night. After 15 minutes of wandering, a cop pulled up, sensed that I was lost, and asked if I needed a lift anywhere. I said I was looking for the campground and he told me to hop in. We drove to the other side of town and found my little grass spot labeled #20. I thanked him and he asked for my name and address, explaining that the place was a "ghost town" and I was probably the only work he would have for that night.

I set up my cheap 2-person tent I rented from the Otago Unipol and crawled in. Within 10 minutes the wind started howling and rain started to fall, foreshadowing the weather for the next 4 days. At least it wasn't too cold...yet. Not being designed for such conditions, the tent got blown around quite a bit and I found myself a little soggy in the morning, but things dried out quickly because Day 1 turned out to be beautiful!

I paid for my campsite and walked down to the beach to find the Great Ocean Walk. The track is very well marked the whole way, so I followed it without any trouble. When the track goes near the beach, usually you can walk either directly on the sand and rocks or follow a grassy path a bit farther from the sea. I took a nasty tumble on the slippery rocks the first morning and cut open my thumb, so decided to spend more of my time on the grassy path after that. In the afternoon the track headed up into the forest and hills away from the beach but then returned to Blanket Bay, the location of my first campsite. I arrived in the middle of the afternoon and took a nap in the sun on the beach, not having got much sleep the previous night. I cooked up some rice and soup for dinner and was about to go to sleep when two young guys walked into camp, two of the four other people I would see during my entire walk. Their names were Andy and Andre, and they were jazz musicians and teachers in Melbourne. I talked with them that night and for the next two days I walked with them. Also at Blanket Bay I saw a few wallabies, but other than some very interesting birds I didn't see much more cool wildlife.

Day 2 started off nice enough, but by the afternoon a nasty stationary front arrived that made the rest of the journey very wet indeed. The front chucked squalls at the coastline every half hour--you could set your watch by it. There would be a period of intense wind and rain, then a brief respite, and another squall would roll in. We arrived at our second campsite, Aire River, soaking wet. Fortunately there was a 3-sided shelter at this campsite which allowed us to dry our clothes marginally and curl up on the benches to get some rest. My tent would definitely not have faired well in the open.

The next morning we embarked on our longest, hardest day to Ryans Den, with rain and wind off and on all day. Miraculously we arrived to the Ryans Den shelter just before the worst of the storms came in with hail and a gusty gale. At Ryans Den we met a couple with expensive camping gear and tent-they decided to sleep outside in their $1000 tent while we huddled beneath the shelter. Andy and Andre had come more prepared than I and offered me some coffee and wine. So here we were playing cards in this shack-minus-one-wall on top of a cliff overlooking the Southern Ocean, sipping strong Greek coffee and sickeningly sweet wine and puffing on cigars (I declined a cigar) while horizontal rain pelted the shelter and wind whistled through the cracks.

The next morning I set off for the 12 Apostles alone, as Andy and Andre were headed a different route. I finished the 100+ kilometer trek wet, tired, and limping with a sore Achilles tendon, probably caused by my soggy boots rubbing against it. Unfortunately my camera battery ran out on the second day, so I don't have pictures of the spectacular rock formations I saw later in the trek, including the 12 Apostles. After taking in the rainy view, I changed in the Visitors' Center into my last remaining semi-dry clothes and stood outside with my thumb up and a small sign reading "Warrnambool or Apollo Bay?" You see, there was no bus or train from the Visitors' Center and my flight back to NZ left Melbourne the following day. Warrnambool and Apollo Bay are in opposite directions on the Great Ocean Road, but they both have public transit back to Melbourne. I figured listing both of them would increase my chances of a ride. So here I was, standing outside the 12 Apostles Visitor Center in my long underwear and sandles with my drenched backpack and little sign.

Within an hour I got an offer for a ride from a middle-aged guy and his teen-aged daughter. The guy worked for Oxfam, had traveled extensively (most recently in Vietnam and Cambodia), was a vegetarian, and married a Jewish wife he met while working in Israel. He was out on holiday with his daughter driving along the Great Ocean Road. We headed to Warrnambool, stopping along the way to view some more amazing rock formations before it got dark. I bought them a pizza dinner in Warrnambool and they dropped me off at a backpacker's, where I immediately crashed.

Before dawn I woke up to catch the 5:40 am train to Melbourne. The train broke down halfway there, so I had to transfer to another but arrived in Melbourne with plenty of time to get organized before my 5:50 pm flight to Christchurch. I picked up some clothes I had left at Lori's apartment and went to a Jewish bakery to spend the last AUD$2 I had. I asked what I could buy with $2. The woman said I could get a small loaf of challah. When I wasn't looking she tossed in an extra bagel...the perks of being young, looking hungry, and carrying a heavy backpack.

I arrived back in Christchurch at 11:30 pm local time and took two hours to get through customs because of NZ quarantine regulations and all my camping gear. When I finished with customs at 1:30 am, there were no buses or shuttles to the city center. My options were A) pay for an expensive taxi to city center; B) save on taxi and another night in a hostel by curling up on the floor in the airport. I chose option B.

I took the morning's first bus into the city, dropped my things at a backpacker's, and set out into Christchurch. I walked through the Botanical Gardens and watched some netball in the central park. I even "participated" by purchasing a sausage at a Sausage Sizzle fundraiser the moms were hosting. Next I visited the art gallery and the museum, both of which were impressive. The following day I went to Holy Communion at the Christchurch Cathedral, checked out the Arts Centre (housed in the former Christchurch University), and learned all about Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand's most famous physicist. There was a small market nearby and I purchased a plate of delicious and cheap Chinese food and a real French croissant! When I return to Christchurch I want to visit the Antarctic Center, base for the world's Antarctic expeditions, and take a hot air balloon flight. Sunday evening I took the bus back to Dunedin, took a much-needed hot shower, and fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.

Below are some pictures (a few at the beginning from a hike in the Silver Peaks a couple weekends ago). My apologies for not having any of the 12 Apostles or the breath-taking coastline I saw in the latter portion of my Great Ocean Walk.