A Claim Inerrant

As a student studying genetics, I learn pivotal experiments which form the basis of our current understanding of DNA daily. Sometimes cell cultures (cells grown in dishes in the lab for research) are used in these experiments, especially those investigating cancer. Occasionally the HeLa cell line, one type of cell used in cell cultures, is mentioned. This is usually an insignificant detail; what is done with the cells, what results from this and what we can learn is the focus. I’d even go as far as saying that millions, if not billions, of HeLa cells are either growing or stored in my department in college.

HeLa cells, the first immortal human tissue grown in culture, have been to space and placed in nuclear bombs. They’ve helped to develop the polio vaccine and in vitro fertilisation (IVF). They are referenced in over 65,000 scientific articles and cause an estimated several million dollars in damage each year. They were taken from an American woman in 1951 without her knowledge. She died that same year, but her cells live on. Read more

Well that’s another year! It sure was strange! A well-stirred mixture of happy, sad and interesting, thankfully improving towards the end of the year. But if I hear recession, cut backs, bailout, NAMA, ash cloud or snow once more I’ll spontaneously combust!

If I had to choose a highlight of the year 2010 it would probably be my entry into my genetics moderatorship. Not only was it my first choice and somewhat unexpected, it really hasn’t disappointed me either. I’ll spare you the DNA puns and the unzipping your genes jokes, and just tell you that I’m very glad I’m focusing on that double helix only and not chemistry and maths as well!

Sometimes it’s difficult to remember all the events of the year until you’re reminded and thejournal.ie have an amazing review of 2010 in photos. Just a brief warning that you may find some of the images a bit graphic. [Link]

And so we move on to 2011. I’ve a few goals for the year which hopefully won’t fall by the wayside in a few weeks. One of which is to walk/run 1000km by the end of the year. It’s Day 3 and so far I’m at 7.5km, which is kind of on track… I’ll admit I expect to run the majority of the distance during the summer months and early Autumn when it’s brighter and I’ve more free time. I’m sure I’ll keep you updated on my progress either way.

Finally, I hope 2010 was kind to you and wish you an even better 2011,
Alan.

While it’s not my intention to churn out movie reviews on this blog, I really want to tell you what I thought of this film!

After seeing the above trailer, my words were that it would be “mediocre at best”. I figured it would be a summer comedy aimed at teenagers who lap up anything faux-indie and by the looks of it, not even succeed at that. Seven evil ex’s? Would it be possible to get through all seven without feeling rushed or worse, boring?

The evil ex’s may have been rushed at times but at no point was I bored. Faux-indie or not, the retro styling based on classic video games & comic books felt fresh and fitting, clearly aimed at a generation who grew up on Nintendos.

Some may be turned off by its quirky direction, but it’s a fun, offbeat film about youth, aimed at youth and doesn’t try to be any more. I was pleasantly surprised, and was kept laughing throughout.

The other day a bleary-eyed, over-tired fragment of myself smuggled bottles of Lucozade (which I’ve been addicted to since my exams) into the cinema. I was going to see Inception and had plans to catch up on some missed sleep during the film. Boy was I glad I had that kick of energy with me! What a film! High drama, a gripping story line and an array of great actors.

Inception is a sci-fi meets action film starring many famous faces including Leonardo DiCaprio (Gangs of New York, The Departed and Shutter Island), Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun, (500) Days of Summer), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Nine) , Ellen Page (Juno), Cillian Murphy (Breakfast on Pluto, The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Michael Caine (The Dark Knight, Educating Rita). Personally for me DiCaprio and Page steal the show and I found them fascinating to watch, regardless the entire cast give great performances.

I had been told by people the film was hard to follow and while the storyline is complex, even in my haggard state, I still found the events of the film easy enough to follow. I won’t outline the storyline here; I’ll let the trailer explain that. But I will say that this film is more than just a Summer blockbuster churned out by Hollywood to get a bit of quick cash and not something we will forget about after a few months. This has classic status written all over it and a must for any movie collection.

In 2008, I could speak French reasonably well. When in Belgium that same year, I spoke with native French speakers and went on a French-language only tour of Leuven and came away with a good idea of the town’s history. I could easily find my way around and if lost, ask for help and understand the response. Not only that, but I also got an immense enjoyment out of speaking another language.

Since then however I’ve hardly spoken a word and now I can barely string a basic sentence together after several attempts. It’s shameful to say the least. How could I let such a useful and enjoyable quality of mine just fade away? Well no more. It’s time for un revolution!

Within the last week, I’ve dusted off my old books and I’m currently trying to relearn the basics. Once I’m somewhat familiar with these I’ll try immerse myself as much as possible in French media. I have a somewhat strange love of France24 already so I just need to switch away from the English version of the site to get my daily fix of non-Irish news en français.

Not only will this new, revived hobby of mine help me personally, it could also help me academically if I choose French as my Broad Curriculum option in the coming college year. I would feel much more confident pursuing this module if I had at least grasped the basics beforehand. I always dreamt of doing research in Paris for some reason. So who knows, this could be my first steps on a path to collaborative research with some team of French scientists in the future!

So with a bit of bonne chance, you can expect French tweets in the near future as I become slightly bilingual! I might even throw caution to the wind and write a French blog post! (With the help of Google Translate of course…)

Alan.

Hey,

So now that I have a brand spanking new site, I think it’s time I started blogging properly. I’ve decided to ignore the fact that the Irish blogging community is apparently in free fall and just go for it. Hopefully I won’t be joining those leaving any time soon.

You can expect to find me writing about anything related to Ireland, life as a student, and web, tech or science news. I already have a few ideas for posts to come so I’ll keep this short and I hope to see you here soon!

Alan.