Closing Dinner at the Conrad

The closing dinner was both magnificent and sad. There was something final about everyone getting dressed up, and sitting together around a table for the last time as a group. We spent a lot of time just acting classy, swapping gifts, taking photos in the lobbies and the bathroom lounges. (“I’m going to take some photos with the foreigners, because they look peculiar. I’ll start with Alyson.” —K.M.)

The closing dinner included speeches by the forum facilitators, prominent educators, and members of the Singaporean Department of Education, dancing, a bit of courting (in the form of paper cranes, roses, and real acts of courtesy), and some sorrowful good-byes. And, of course, great food.

Course 1: fermented bean curd, mango, vegetarian spring rolls, prawn balls
Course 2: golden mushroom dried seafood soup with “four treasures”
Course 3: sea bass
Course 4: Japanese-style chicken in soy sauce
Course 5: brocoli and mushrooms in a crab meat sauce
Course 6: Some kind of chicken-and-noodle dish
Course 7: Lemongrass jello with alo vera and fresh fruit

SRC biology activites

At the Science Research Center, we broke into lab groups to play with test some basic biological principles. Like almost everything else at the forum, this was entirely student directed and student run, so nothing was allowed to explode.

Gelatin fruits

Here, we combined a liquid gelatin solution with chopped fruits (“We are jelly-making fanatics!”): kiwi, raw pineapple, canned pineapple, and apples. We then froze them in beakers, and found that after a few minutes, the raw pineapple and kiwi vials remained in a liquid state while the others had frozen to jelly. What hapepned? Pineapple and kiwis contain active proteases (protein-eating enzymes): bromelain and actinidin, respectively. When gelatin solidifies, its protein chains form long linking strands which provide structural support for other molecules. Breaking down the proteins prevents these sheets from forming.

Why only the raw pineapple? The canning process includes heating, and heat denatures enzymes! So, the proteases are inactive in the canned pineapple.

Other biology experiments included: DNA separation/identification, gel electrophoresis, Gram-staining bacteria

Chemistry experiements: Growing crystals using metal ions in salt solution, identifying “blood” using Luminol

Physics experiments: Making trebuchets, mapping the trajectory of flying objects and finding optimal launch angles, and playing real-life Angry Birds!

A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology, and Research)

One of the major highlights of our trip was the chance to visit some of Singapore’s major science research institutes. A*STAR is one such institute, located in Singapore’s Biopolis and Fusionopolis. The Biopolis is a multi-million-dollar life science research complex built by the Singapore government. It was conceived by top administrators, designed by top architects, planned by top engineers and its purpose is to house top scientists and state-of-the-art research infrastructure. All of the buildings there have scientific names related to the research they carry out. We got to visit Proteos, which specializes in protein production, expression, and purification, especially for the production of biopharmaceuticals. Plus, outside there is a statue in the shape of a dandelion!

Once there, we learned about the major stages of mass protein production. The scientists start by genetically engineering a cell, so that it will produce the desired protein product. The type of cell greatly depends on the type of protein that is being amplified. For proteins that require post-translational modification (i.e. glycosylation), eukaryotic cells must be used. Chinese hamster ovary cells are a favorite. Poor hamsters.

The next major step is amplification of the protein. For this, they have hugeeee (uo to 1500 L) “bioreactors,” which are essentially giant incubators. Then the scientists burst the cells in order to isolate and harvest the protein of interest. This is the complicated bit and is the expensive and time-consuming bottleneck of the whole operation. Then, finally, they check the protein products to make sure they are what they wanted to grow in first place. Voila biopharmaceuticals!

A*STAR Home: http://www.a-star.edu.sg/

Panel Discussion @ NTU

On two different occassions, our several Nobel Laureates and the beloved Professor James Barber (seriously, I am a fan of this man) were gathered together in a semicircle on a stage, to answer our probing and anxious questions.

While it was awe-inspring to see so many scientific icons in a relatively small space (though surrownded by large numbers of people), we found the individual dialgoues and Masterclasses to be much more personal and fulfilling. Miscommunication between the program directors and the Laureates led to near-repeat experiences between several of the important scientists, while the questions posed by the audience did not always stimulate the most enlightening responses. (We recognize that many of these questions were asked in translation.)

An artist’s rendition of the forum: I drew this while waiting for the auditorium to fill. —Alyson

A selection of the best and worst questions and responses.

Q: What are the best qualities a science researcher should have?
Also known as the most frequently asked question of the event. We suggest this is due to the basic burning desire to ask the laureates something—anything, but simply having nothing much to say.
A: Stubbornness, the drive to satisfy yourself and only yourself, intellectual honesty and curiosity

Q: What should a scientist do to become successful?
A: “Become an expert at something.”
—Danny Schetman, expert crystallographer and otherwise eminent Israeli scientist

Q: If a person is, say, an independent learner, someone without a guide, how far do you think they can go, without a guide, self-learning? I’m not talking about stupid teachers, but if a student doesn’t have a guide, how far can they go? If they live somewhere where they don’t have access to a guide, where can they find one, not a teacher, but a guide, and can they go further that way?
A: None of the scientists present understood this question (which started out relatively simple and proceeded to become increasingly obscure), and neither did we. Mrs. Schoenbrun’s (later) response: “As far as they can go.”