My EBV project....

I knw some of u must be really curious on wat i've actually done for my fyp. Let me brief u a lil on my whole final year thingy..which is really tiring n nonstop (I dont hv any holiday at all lo... not even enjoying my 3 weeks holiday during sem break ='(   ). Im glad tat i got my first choice of project in the very first instance n there's no nid for goin for the 2nd round. hahaha.. So, i got the Epstein-Barr virus project with the title of EBV subtyping in non-Malaysian by using EBNA 2.

 

Kim (Golden Lotus), my supervisor, was really nice towards us... appreciate it altho she's quite strict and emo sometimes. When she first met us, she explained everything n asking us to provide a small presentation to explain on wat we knw abt the title we have chosen. So, presentation n bla bla bla were made... FYP then started. Getting all the apparatus, cleaning and arranging our things in the lab that we shared with Dr Say's fyp student (lab that can only accomodate 20 ppl max.. taking a step in the lab, feels like earthquake.. so u knw wat i mean? fragile lab~ XD).

 

Throat washing samples were then collected from the foreign workers in Hytex (thx to Katie for helping to arrange.. thx to my sis n lishi oso for helping). 29 samples were collected from Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Myanmar, etc etc... (i dont rmb.. i just knw there's a lot of ppl). Asked them to gargle n collect in the tube provided but there's some miscommunication too! haha.. it's so funny.. some dunno how to gargle n they ended up, drinking the solution instead. But dont worry... it's not poisonous. they are all really friendly... n funny too!~ As a token of appreciation, soft drinks were given to them.. (an idea by Katie too.. haha.. thx again!). Other samples were taken by my lab partners.. they met Japanese, Americans, etc etc.. at dang wangi LRT station. ^^

 

Then... lab work started... preparing PCR mix most of the time in the cabin (Our lab) but doing the PCR n gel electrophoresis in another labs.. Walking here n there, from this block to another block, up and down. There goes most of my half year... tiring, disappointing when i couldnt get the band.. stressed! EBNA2 really gave me a big headache. I coudlnt get any band in my analysed gel. Only smears.. sigh.. All of my lab partners got their band but not mine. Why why why is all in my head. I was so stressed n disappointed... browsing the net for answers.. in the end, Golden lotus agreed to change the primer... but not to a new stock of EBNA2. Is changing from EBNA2 to EBNA3C which can also b used for subtyping.

 

At last, i got my very first few bands!~~~ yeah... so happy at tat moment but not long after that, samples getting more n more less. Uh-oh.. the amount of samples were not enuf for certain samples.. we're all so worried. haha.. cos we've wasted too much in experimenting n trying to get our bands (our result). Then, more n more ppl are booking for the very limited PCR machines in the lab (competition in booking.. XD). So things are getting more n more complicated...There's so lil time to relax..

 

 

After the first sem of FYP, thesis started in 2nd sem. Even more tiring... ur eyes will get more n more blur, headache, and confuse... First, we handed in chapters by chapters once every 2 weeks, then 2nd draft then the final copy. It used so much of my energy n brain cells.. >.< Printed it out yesterday n it cost me RM32.50! (counted lucky la.. at least cheaper than some of my frens =P). Hopefully, my thesis will earn me some good grades... *praying hard*.

 

Presentation of my project was held last wed (2 sept). Tell u something... I was the luckiest of all... the very first one to present among all the bioscience courses >.< really dunno why am i so so so LUCKY! but at least i get to finish the earliest too! haha.. Prior to the presentation (presentation start at 9am), again we were all so lucky to knw in the very last minute tat we dont hv any laptop for our presentation cos Dr wong did not book it earlier n uncle Ho (dunno from where.. mayb Engineering dept) managed to booked it few weeks earlier. So, ICT dept told us..."we oso hv no choice. Altho it's ur fyp presentation but ur lecturer book it last min n we dont hv any laptop left". So, me n mei chien went to 3rd flr to look for Dr wong to ask her..but who knws she din arrived yet. Luckily, Dr tang (our chairperson for fyp presentation) had arrived. We discussed n went out to look for laptop. Luckily in the very very very very last minute (8.55am), Wai Kit managed to borrow a laptop from S block ( the furthest n lonely block of our campus which reside more closely to TARC than ours). Phewww... luckily!

 

During the presentation, i was so nervous... bcos i hv Dr Say, Dr Tang n Dr Mohd as my panel. Ppl said i hv a very good presentation skill.. but i dunno to which extend it is good. Frens said i answered very well but i dont even knw the real answers.. haiz.. (mayb they are just comforting me..it's ok. i got it~). First question given was given by Dr Tang: Why is it only Type 1 EBV in certain countries and type 2 in certain countries? (This one i knw! haha.. prepared it days b4) 2nd ques by Mohd Abdel: Wat is the significance of this study? (again, i knw! but.. dunno why, he seems like dont really accept my answer n wan a more concrete answer instead. or bcos he dont even understand me?? p.s: he is an African. communication problem mayb. XD) Ques by Dr Say: How did u amplify EBNA3C and how did u get different bands for different types? Why different types hv different bands? Why is it type 1 hv this band and type 2 have this band?? Why u get this molecular weight?? There are a few more ques by Dr Say n Dr Mohd but i cant recall edi... These were the questions that left a big mark on me.. Dr say's question really did gv me a big "?" on my head cos i really dunno how. SIGH... i was stunned by his questions. Making me panicked at that moment. About 20 pairs of eyes staring at me...waiting for my answers. Gosh! i really dunno how to answer but i still tried. Just simply tembak la..wat else... Finally, Dr say let go of me..

 

n NOW, it's finally over but final exam is coming nearer.. Shud i b happy? sigh.... staring at my mountain pile of notes, makes me dizzy n headache... @.@ I dont even knw which one to start with.. too many!! Some i dont even hv any idea on wat its actually talking abt.. haha.. esp Medical Genomics. Others like Virology, Pharmacology and Oncology are just too much to memorise! pathways, virus names, genes, the name of the medicine (O.o!!) I think the simplest of all is Interpersonal communication la... but still nid to memorise the keywords.. sigh.. a slightly different word in the point means a whole diff thing. @.@ how am i goin to endure this?? HELP ME!!