I Was Once a Scientist....

... or at least I tried to become one - no I pretended to be one. Just to survive the rigors. And eventually concluding molecular science was challenging, very challenging... but it was not the piece of cake I can have and eat.

I did a thesis on an actin-binding protein called coronin in Acanthamoeba healyi - I am quite sure you do not care what that is, but it's a one-celled organism that you can find everywhere. It sometimes causes keratitis in contact lense wearers.

Too bad the paper cannot be readily accessed online... but the biblio entry goes this way:

Acanthamoeba healyi: Molecular cloning and characterization of a coronin homologue, an actin-related protein
Experimental Parasitology, Volume 110, Issue 2, June 2005, Pages 114-122
Eleonor T. Baldo, Eun-Kyung Moon, Hyun-Hee Kong and Dong-Il Chung

.... you can read the abstract, though.

 I also did a stool survey. It was more fun and rewarding, because I get to talk with street kids and give them deworming tablets. But the sample size was too small to make a significant contribution to prevalence surveys. The Korean Journal of Parasitology accepted my study as a "brief communication." The article can be viewed online for free.
Bibliographical entry goes this way:

BALDO ET, BELIZARIO VY, DE LEON WU, KONG HH, CHUNG DI.
Infection status of intestinal parasites in children living in residential institutions in Metro Manila, the Philippines.
Korean J Parasitol. 2004 Jun;42(2):67-70


That was my short stint as a scientist - in complete lab get-up and all. But that was just once. So call it a past life. :)

(Why don't I have formatting buttons in my create post window? I'm typing plain text and can't even post a picture!)

Hope.

 

"All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

- Romans 8:25(NKJV).

 

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