Views of the BIDP II (Agri Track) Programme - from the UK, here

18 Dec 2013

December is a strange time – the days are getting very short in the northern hemisphere and always one of the busiest months; end of term, financial year for some, Christmas present and preparation… but a BIDP in Malaysia, I could not say No.

My journey to KL started at Gatwick airport via Istanbul this time, and arrived at ABI in Serdang where I was going to call “home” for the next 3 days. Somehow, there is something magical about 3… this cohort is my third cohort (see below). A few things stood out immediately in the first few moments:

-          A mixed group with a diverse technical background and 

           there is a Chemical Engineer(!);

-          Graduates from around the world;

-          Mix of participants from research institutes and the industry (>50%);

-          And a very responsive and lively group (except around 3pm)

I had made some minor changes to the course, adding a lot more fundamental theories (adsorption, nucleation, crystallisation, drying, etc) but also some practical examples to apply these theories in areas like scaling-up, estimation. I have always argued that this is necessary to truly understand Downstream Bioprocessing and be able to fully appreciate the implications of each model or equation. So a huge thanks for bearing with me whilst going through the derivations. I hope the Jaffa Cakes, After Eights and Haribo sweets (again the magical 3!) helped made it a bit easier and more bearable. As I walked around the class during our exercise and examples, I quickly appreciated that there is a lot of talent around…  and I am very excited about this.

Again, I would have to take my hat off to TalentCorp and HAT for all the initiative and efforts to train our next generation of scientists and engineers who in my opinion, will without doubt be Malaysia’s leaders in the bio-industry sector.

With the class participants outside the classroom

I felt this showed clearly in our last group activity – the role-play where we had:

The Company with a CEO, CTO, R&D Director and Security Head

The Investors with a Buffet philosophy

Local NGOs and Environmentalists

The Government with the PM himself and his trusted cabinet

Scientific & Academic Community – very typical of the Profs

Kampung, spokesperson for the village and chairperson for the Kelab Ibu-bapa (?)

I can only say - you all were fantastic!

On a personal note, I was also able to visit the Putrajaya area and it is fantastic to see the developments in Malaysia, and am always impressed with the progress our country is making. I also had the opportunity to enjoy some very delicious local delicacies, keeping me happy for the next phase until my next visit.

I am now awaiting my return flight to Heathrow via Singapore at KLIA. On a quick calculation, to include transit time, my total travel time for this trip is a total of 35 hrs (!). However, you all made my role as instructor an easy one and truly enjoyable, and all well worth it. 

So, thank you very much!

Do keep in touch and very best wishes in all your undertakings.

                                                                                     Written by: Jerry Heng

Blessed Christmas 2013 and Happy New Year 2014~!

May all of you have a great Christmas season and holiday to come !!

To all our BIDP and BIDP II participants and trainers, we thank you for your participation and partnership with us and more importantly the friendship, and the learning which we all have gained throughout the course of training. 

For the year ahead, we at HAT would like to wish you success in your work and projects, and for those who have classes to attend, please remember to come for them! :) We'll be looking forward to seeing you in class! 

Once again, a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year 2014~

A New Beginning!

The day we started yet another batch of BIDP training.. September 3rd, 2013.

This time, BIDP was held in Agrobiotechnology Institute (ABI), Serdang, Selangor. Named BIDP II Track II, this batch was aimed for the agriculture field and its players, but we had a mixed blend of participants from the pharmaceutical industry as well. That of course, was a warm welcome.

The day started with a simple welcoming by the organizers (HAT) and a few words by En Azhar Amin, the CEO of HAT.

After that, there was a break and some tea, coffee and snacks were served. 

We got right down to business after the simple refreshment time. The first trainer, Dr Leong Chuei Wuei started off Phase I of the training with an Introduction to Life Science and Chemistry.

The class during the first lecture by Dr Leong

The day went smoothly and classes will carry on until the modules are completed. It was a proud moment indeed, to see another BIDP class starting up! 

qPCR days in ABI

Next training session scheduled was qPCR. An extra machine was brought in all the way from Penang for our convenience and learning, so that we had a glimpse of two different types of qPCR instruments. 

During my university days, I have learned and heard about qPCR but I never had the chance to use it. The first day of qPCR training, I was so enthusiastic as I knew I finally had the chance to learn how to operate a qPCR instrument.  As I walked in to the class, the trainer greeted me with a friendly smile and he introduced himself. The trainer name is Chor Ee Tan and he is from New Zealand. He is currently working in Wellington Hospital as Molecular Scientist. His job scope is mainly utilizing qPCR to do disease screening for Wellington Hospital. He shared a lot of real-life experiences, which made the training interesting.  The most interesting part was that he gave out New Zealand chocolates whenever the trainees participate in the class. As a result, the trainees gave their fullest attention and participated actively. This was the first time the atmosphere of the class become lively and fun. 

The class in progress

After 2 days of theory training, the class was assigned into smaller groups with different tasks to be completed. Meanwhile, each group was arranged to enter the laboratory to have hands on experience on qPCR instruments. When my group entered the laboratory, we were briefed on the tasks we were required to complete and had some experiences on the qPCR instrument. The tasks we were required to do were to develop an assay with full validation process using qPCR technique. Besides that, the practical session was about detection of porcine DNA contamination in different types of sample.

While we were busy working on our assignments and tasks, new trainees were also enrolled in the program. It was hard at first to blend in with the new trainees but when we get to know about them, the class atmosphere became more cheerful and lively. With the new addition of trainees, the tasks given were completed earlier as we expected. After that, we also did a presentation on our newly developed assay. The presentation was interesting as each group was given different scenario and I realized that qPCR has a wide range of applications.

In the lab, having briefings on the qPCR instruments

Unfortunately time flies when we are having fun. During the last day of qPCR training, Chor Ee arranged breakfast for the class as a token of appreciation in giving our fullest attention and active participation during the training.  All Thanks to Azlan and Hafis who took the trouble in preparing the breakfast for the class. During the closing of the training, Chor Ee gave out chocolates again to the class and I really enjoyed the chocolates!

In class for presentations 

In these 2 weeks of qPCR training with Chor Ee, I really gained a lot of in-depth knowledge on qPCR applications. Although I may not have the chance to use qPCR in my workplace, I really appreciated the knowledge and experiences shared by Chor Ee. Most importantly, I really had a great time and enjoyed every single moment with every trainee.  Finally, I would like to thank all of the BIDP organizers in hosting such wonderful program. 

For those who don't know what this training is, Bio-Analytical Industry Development Program (BIDP) is a program to develop technical expertise and talents in Bio-analytical field for young-working adults/ just-employed-fresh graduates. Besides, the main objective of this program is to help fresh graduates to fill the competency gap between tertiary education and industry needs. This program covers many areas such as technical softskill, research methodology, and instrumentation techniques. Among the courses, the course I have enjoyed the most so far is quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).

                                                                                                              Written by : Xian Hui 
                                                                                                               Edited by : Melanie Ann

GEL ELECTROPHORESIS TIMES

Have you watched forensic dramas like CSI, Hawaiian Five O and NCIS?? If your answer is “Yes”, then you might have wondered how they managed to find the culprit behind all those cases, right?

DNA TECHNOLOGY has the answer for it! It allows us to study the sequence, expression, and function of a gene. Genomics is a term that is used in DNA technology, which involves the study of whole sets of genes and their interactions. Meanwhile, GEL ELECTROPHORESIS is a lab technique that is used to separate primarily DNA and macromolecules such as proteins, on the basis of their size and charge with the use of an electric current.

Figure 1: Gel electrophoresis diagram

Gel is used as a medium for DNA’s movement. The gel allows smaller molecules to move easily, compared to larger fragments of DNA, thus the fragments are separated by size. That is why shorter molecules travel faster and thus farther. When the current is turned off, the DNA molecules are arrayed in “bands” along a “lane” according to their size.

Okay, now let’s relate this with the crime scene investigation cases. Imagine there was a murder case. The victim is found dead inside the house and there are blood stains on the victim’s clothes and also on the wall. Police have a list of suspects but they can’t nab the culprit.

The blood stains will then be sent to the lab for testing. Gel electrophoresis is implemented to find the culprit. How are the results revealed? The bands of blood stains from clothes and wall samples will be used as references while the suspect’s blood (DNA) sample will be compared. The higher similarity between the reference and DNA samples show who the murderer is. Case solved!

Figure 2: Gel electrophoresis bands.

Result indicate that suspect #2 was probably involved in the crime scene 

So.. we learned all this, and more in class. We had a very able lecturer, Prof Mokhrish from UPM School of Veterinary Sciences, who thought us all we needed to know about this lab technique and much more side knowledge which was a privilege to obtain. 

                                             Written by: Siti Kauthar
                                                  Edited by: Mel Ann