Mozzie News: Well, sort of...

The i5K initiative has just been in the news (ok, I'm a bit late but whatever). The plan is to sequence the genome of 5000 species of insects in the next 5 years. Of course, one of the species planned is none other than Aedes albopictus, the Asian Tiger mosquito. In case you don't know, this mosquito is medically important as it can transmit diseases such as dengue and filaria. It is also a species that has successfully colonised just about every continent on the globe, thanks to us humans unintentionally transporting them all over the world (think tyre trade). Hence, the need to curb Ae. albopictus population is important. Understanding the species (including their genome) will of course help us.

Hmmm, I did a bit of sequencing on that mosquito some 7 years ago and it was a pain since there was no genome database to reference for my project. But what's more a pain is that the sequences submitted was not in my name, but my ex-supervisor (uh huh, welcome to the science world where people are zealous when it comes to getting recognition). I digress...

So, hope this initiative will go as planned. 5000 species in 5 years is a lot of work! I wonder how many scientists are working on this? List of the main crew is on the website. For now though, the list of 5000 species to be sequenced is not yet completed. What insect would you like to see sequenced? Submit a request at the website!

Mos Cooks: Gooseberries

Argh, it is nearly 6 in the morning and I can't sleep. Maybe I should cut out on the green tea at night and get more exercise.

Anyway, bought some gooseberries because they were on sale in the supermarket. I had no idea they were going to be so tart. So I turned a whole lot of them into a crumble.

My first gooseberry crumble with vanilla cream. I don't think you can make crumble look very sexy in a picture. haha! My housemates thought it was good though.

I then took the rest and made a little gooseberry sauce to go with my haddock.

My dinner last night. A pseudo Japanese theme of rice, weak miso soup, and baked haddock with gooseberries and capers sauce. The sauce has a sweet and sour taste to it.

Have to say, the best thing about today was my purchase of beer. Erdinger wheat beer after dinner! yay!

World Oceans Day

Today is World Oceans Day. Is there anyone does not care about our oceans? They cover about 71% of our planet. They house hundred thousands of species... and that is only the ones we humans found. There are always new species to be found in the ocean. The ocean also provide us with (obviously) water, food source, and the oxygen that we need... of course, that is only the basic needs, but the ocean gives us much much more. So do think about the ocean today, and how we can preserve/improve it for our future.

Mos Cooks: Coffee Agar dessert - and my birthday.

Felt like making agar dessert today. So I opened that sachet of powder agar. It's the first time using this and I have to say the instruction of 10g per liter of liquid makes the jelly too firm for my liking. I think I'm going for 0.5% agar next time... it works for my electrophoresis gel, so should be ok for making jellies too, no?

So here is it my first coffee and cream agar dessert.

In big blocks...

In fingers...

It was my birthday a couple days back. Had a small gathering of friends in London for dinner. We had a good time chatting and enjoying the food and cracking lame jokes. My friend A baked me some whoopie pies to my surprise (okay, it was actually baked for a cookbook photoshoot, but it's the thought that counts). It's the first time I've ever had them.

A and R got a little sugary sign on one of the whoopies. Oh, the weather that day was superbly warm, but that was bad news for the whoopies...

Box number 2: more whoopie pies!

Sigh, another year older... good news thought that my thesis has finally got the OK!

Mos Bakes: Lemon sponge cake with vanilla whipped cream and strawberries

In between the thesis and job hunting and paper writing, the tendency to bake increases...
Summertime (although the weather has been really rubbish until recently) makes me feel like baking something light and with strawberries. So this is what I made!



A light and airy lemon sponge with vanilla infused whipped cream and fresh strawberries. You can see the black specks of vanilla seed in the cream. It is from the Balinese vanilla pod I picked up while on holiday there like 2 years ago. The vanilla pod was a bit stiff, but the fragrance is all there still.



A slice of the cake. Love it, although I think I should be more generous with the cream next time. :)

Mossie News: Smell you later!

So it was reported that a team has successfully isolated some chemicals that could be used to deter mosquito from biting, theBBC reported. This was a Nature paper, but too bad I don't have excess to free journals anymore so I can't read this article in full. The BBC has not a lot of info as well, but from what I can gather from Nature, 2,3-butandione is one of the "smelly chemicals" that can disrupt the mosquito's excellent carbon dioxide detection to locate a host.
Hmmm, a new type of deterrent? interesting! I wonder if these can be made into personal repellents?

Holiday in Italy

So did I do in May? I went to Italy, and visited a good friend that lives in Cosenza. There was plenty of fun.

My friend works at the University of Calabria. Check out this bridge that suspends five stories above and between buildings. There is a bus that moves on here to bring you from one end of the campus to the other.


Beautiful landscape of Maratea, Italy.


Deers in the woods of Sila National Park, Calabria, Italy.

After a brief tour of the South, I went on Tuscany.

Florence. Too many tourist.

Lied down on the lawn at Pisa. I was pretty exhausted that day.

Is this year going to be a year of travels? I hope so. :P

Oh, it's June already?