NAYAB ABIDI
Article No. 1 – Mitochondria to determine species: An Insight into DNA Bar Codes The problem with me is that I want to do everything - mostly. So, when I have to embark on tasks like this (describing myself) my brain tends to go haywire. The best I can do is describe some of the constants in my life. The first up is Biology. This one I didn’t have much of a choice about. Biology is in my blood (quite literally); inherent, ingrained. Sometimes I’ve tried pushing it away, choosing something else as a career path, but it just won't happen. It’s like a black hole which always sucks me back in. I suppose its because everything makes sense when you study Biology. Also, every time you study something new, it’s a revelation. Its just mind-boggling how a multitude of obscure reactions, pathways, signaling cascades are going on in your body, all around you, in only a few seconds. And if only you could understand all that, if you could work out every little detail, it would give you limitless power. Imagine the ability to manipulate biological reactions: you could cure diseases, prevent them, use biological systems as models for real life machines (biological machines happen to be particularly efficient). Ofcourse this raises some questions of ethics but lets assume we’ll do the right thing. But, Biology is also where all the disciplines begin to coincide: Chemistry, Maths, Physics, Engineering. We live in a world where engineers are studying the mechanical properties of bio-membranes and how pore-forming toxins actually pierce the lipid bilayer; where computer scientists simulate biological processes to answer different questions ranging from the bacterial to the evolutionary timescale. I think in this regard Biology is the answer to my need to do everything. Then there’s Physics. I also sort of inherited that. I like the idea of reducing the whole universe to a constant. Makes me feel more….grounded. And the non-academic constant is Literature. ‘Classic’ literature. I really believe that Tolkien, Dickens, Jane Austen, Enid Blyton, Christie, Lousia May Alcott and Susan Coolidge had as big a hand in raising me up as did my parents. These days I’m mourning the coming out of iPhone 4, because this necessarily means my phone has become archaic. But the new phone is something amazing - click here to find out more. Besides that, Arif Lohar is bringing back the chimta action. Brilliant! Watch the video after the jump. P.S: I am awesome. |
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Identifying the Fountain of Youth Even A Monkey Could Do It The Future of Evolution Of Treachery and Mad Cow Disease The RNA World |