Christmas Holidays

It’s the holidays and it has been a little over week since my graduation. It’s still snowing ‘proper’ snow, which is fine because I have nowhere I really need to be and it is nice just to be able to sit back, relax and watch the snow fall. I hired out my gown for an extra week so that we could take some family pictures in a studio but I soon realised that with the run up to Christmas, most people had hired studios to take family portraits and so our choice of studies was limited. Luckily my uncle (nasir chachu) has a photo studio and thankfully he was available which is great as I running out of time to return my gown.

Advantages of using services provided by family members. You feel much more at ease and in the case of photo’s we took quite a few because a) I blinked quite a lot at the wrong times apparently and b) Dad and Bilal are such posers who were only further encouraged by Nasir chachu, lol. Saeed mamoo and auntie Naseem were also out and about in Leeds shopping and popped in to see how we were getting on. The only disadvantage for using family I would say, are that they don’t let you pay and therefore I feel even worse for taking up so much of their time!

The photo’s that chachu took came out really well (mA) and even my official single portrait from Manchester University was good… well looking at the proofs, I still have to order the real thing. All in all, the day went well and I enjoyed being with my family. The hols were spent at home with my family, watching stuff on TV until the post office opened up again allowing me to post my gown back to the company and breathe a sigh of relief that everything went well.

Returning my gown - I particularly like the tag where it orders me to not to leave the country with the gown. Um... ok, I'll try not to :P

Unfortunately we didn’t have a big family Christmas dinner this year as the Ali family were in Pakistan and as soon as they get back, Auntie Naseem is jetting off to Pakistan for two weeks. It feels a bit like a relay race to and from Pakistan at the moment, lol. Therefore not an ideal time to have a graduation party and I’m afraid my cousin Sara will have to wait a little bit longer. Bilal’s birthday is soon approaching so hopefully we’ll have a combined party then when everyone is back from their holidays and free from exams and what not.

In other news, I am still LOVING the snow! Snowman building has been rife in our area and even my mum couldn’t resist having a go, lol. Pictures of a couple of our attempts are shown below. There is something about fresh snow and Christmas that goes so well together and we haven’t had much of it these past few years. Definitely a welcome change and we’ll enjoy it as long as we can :)

Exhibit A is mum's attempt and exhibit B is Bilal's attempt :)

Unfortunately we think mum's snowman has been going out secretly partying at night. We found him the next morning a little worse for wear, legless shall we say? ;) Legless, geddit? No? Ok, well I found it funny!

Bilal felt it was right to read a janazah for mum's snowman. Talk about getting easily attached!

David Tennant

He may be leaving Dr Who, but I love the fact that David Tennant seems to be everywhere on TV this Christmas season. It is like his final farewell... except he’ll still be around doing other stuff that is NOT Dr Who related.

So the places I spotted DT...

• In the BBC ‘promo slots’ between programmes (promoting Dr Who of course). The TARDIS, DT, the reindeer – love the Christmassy feel of it all.
• As a presenter on ‘Never mind the Buzzcocks’ along with his fellow actors Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins as team members. Laughed non-stop throughout the programme.
• As the (Scottish) ghost of Christmas present in the Catherine Tate show. A hilariously effeminate portrayal that reminded me of Russell Brand.
• His first appearance as a panellist for the quiz show QI. I liked the banter between him Bill Bailey; a little silly at times but that is what the holidays are about – having a laugh with your mates. Also he looked rather handsome in his maroon velvet suit (biased I know!).
• As a guest on ‘The Graham Norton show’. Aah, you just have to watch the clip, lol
• In the BBC’s adaptation of Hamlet where David Tennant starred as Hamlet himself. Not something I often watch but I’m glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially liked Patrick Stewart portrayal of Hamlet’s uncle Claudius was another role that really stood out.
• Whilst randomly flicking across channels, I came across the Cbeebies channel where lo and behold David Tennant was reading Bedtime stories.
• And of course Dr Who; in his final episodes!!!

Whilst some papers just listed the different programmes he was due to appear on, others (here and here) felt that the BBC was overdosing it’s viewers with numerous DT appearances. Keeping my bias aside (I’m trying, honest!) I say let David Tennant have his time. I mean after all, how many times do you get to become the Doctor? It is such an iconic role. As for me I’m eagerly awaiting the second part of the final Dr Who episode of this series. Excited to see what happens next and yet at the same time saddened knowing that this will be the last time DT will take up his role of the doctor :(

Some serious organising skills

There’s being organised and then there is this…

Tom's Christmas Lunch

Definitely overkill but funny all the same. It’s puts my minor OCD in the shade, that’s for sure :P

Graduation day

So the day finally arrived. A year of meticulous preparation/planning, many applications, plenty of hard work and even a good dose of panic at times… after all that and more; I am pleased to say that I have successfully complete my MSc with the additional accolade of securing the position of the student with the highest marks within my medical year. It sounds sort of weird but I felt that everything in my life was linked to Aishi, which is true to a certain extent. I also felt that everything good that had happened was because she was with me. She was like my good luck charm and with her gone, I thought everything would come crashing down around my ears. It was a relief when that did not happen and in my mind I still feel that wherever Aishi is, she’s still looking down from above, praying and looking out for us (iA). So yes I am pleased that I was fortunate enough to reach such a level but someone who is doubly thrilled is my mother who has had a huge smile on her face (mA) since the day my marks were released. I’m pleased with my marks but I’m more pleased with fact that my mum is happy and that I am the reason for her happiness and she’s proud of me. Um, does that make sense? Lol.

On graduation day, my ceremony was a morning one, which normally would have been fine except this time, there were a number of reasons which would make it more difficult…

a) I had stayed up late last night making sure everything was ready i.e. everyone’s outfits ironed, tickets were printed etc, which is why I was a bit low on sleep. But not to worry though as the adrenaline soon kicked in!

b) Dad decided he was going to nip into work before heading over to the university, which meant that I would have to print off instructions for him. And because I was travelling in earlier I wouldn’t physically be in the car with him therefore I KNOW to except phone calls everything 15 to 20 minutes from dad informing me he was either lost or late.

c) The car journey from Yorkshire to Manchester with my mum and brother, at peak rush hour. I hate traffic plus Bilal took longer than I did getting ready (!) and because it was absolutely freezing, my car decided it would take longer to heat up. Grrr!

Despite all that, I still made it to Manchester University on time and went straight to the robing room with my mum and Bilal in tow. After making sure everything fit (my cap always feels really weird as I often think it’s about to fall off!), I took mum and Billy over to the Whitworth Hall, which was only a short walk across Oxford Road.

As you can see Whitworth Hall is a fantastic looking building

It was absolutely freezing today and as it was my graduation day I had decided that sense of style ranked higher than practical clothing. Therefore I had a smart but thin trouser suit on (which is why I was dangerously close to hypothermia!) and a lovely pair of court shoes that weren’t really made for running (or walking for that matter :P). But you know it was big day for me and I wanted to make an effort, plus once I had my gown on (thank god!) I didn’t feel as cold. Honest! Lol.

The entrance for the graduating students, where some ceremony took place before we were let in. Plus the inside of the hall is pretty spectacular too :)

After queuing up outside for what felt like an eternity, the graduating students (graduands?) were allowed into the main hall and directed to our seats. Flipping through the programmes that were on our seats, I noticed that that they were very few medics in this ceremony and soon realised we had been split into two separate batches as they were that many of us graduating. Also the ceremony that was due to start at 10.30am was delayed – a good thing for my family as it meant that my dad who was significantly late was still allowed to enter the hall. The ceremony went well (see me at [time] in this video link) and thankfully I didn’t trip up at any point – (it’s an insane fear of mine!). After the ceremony and exiting through different doors, I went to join my parents and was pleasantly surprised to find my supervisor and her post doc; Zareen, had also attended my graduation. I took a few photo’s with Maureen and Zareen and they had a little chat with my parents and cooed over what a cute boy Billy was. Ah, if only they knew him better, lol. I also met up with Chris (my fellow sidekick during my hospital placement :)), took a few pictures with Dad (who had to go to work soon after) and then I went to get some paperwork sorted whilst my family sat and chatted in Muse Cafe. I joined Bilal and mum afterwards. We took some more pictures outside and then we headed home as it was freezing!!!

Cafe Muse provided my parents with their much needed cup of tea :)

On our way home, Bilal decided he wanted to celebrate the occasion further by going out to eat, however mum didn’t feel right as Dad was at work and not able to make it. After a bit of discussion we ended up at Mumtaz and got table by the window. It was a lovely to be able to take my mum somewhere nice where she could sit and relax whilst someone else tended to her. We placed out orders and whilst waiting for the food to arrive, we saw the first few flakes of snow fall. Strangely the road outside the restaurant was rather quiet as opposed to the usual hustle and bustle we had become accustomed to in this part of town. Bilal started to panic about getting home as he felt that because my car wasn’t a huge 4X4, we would end up stranded on our way home. I tried explaining that this was highly unlikely but Billy wouldn’t have any of it and even wanted to cancel our food order. FYI, if Bilal ever rejects the opportunity to have food, you know something is seriously wrong. Mum thankfully calmed him down and they resumed their chitchat whilst I turned my attention back to the window.

From the welcome warmth of restaurant, I watched as the brilliant white flakes of snow fell against a perfect backdrop of the inky blue evening sky. I’m not an overly soppy person but it just was so beautiful. It was mesmerising watching the flecks of pure white float gracefully towards the ground. Slow at first but soon picking up the pace, the snowflakes were falling thick and fast, arranging themselves together to form a faultless white layer over everything in sight. The area surrounding the restaurant was definitely no countryside picture, but the deserted street coupled with the fresh snowfall and the dark navy sky managed to make the area outside the restaurant look picture perfect.

Our driveway being covered snow... and it's sticking! Yay!

The remainder of the evening was spent teasing Bilal, chatting with mum and enjoying our meal. Eventually we made our way home safely despite Bilal’s dire predictions (!) and I’m currently sat at my bedroom window watching the snow fall which hasn’t let up since we arrived home. The back garden is now covered a thick blanket of snow, as is the driveway and it seems a shame to disturb it at all. But it inevitably will be as everyone rushes around trying to get jobs done before the Christmas winding down begins. Hmm, looks like it will be white Christmas this year after all :)

The last login

The last time I will ever log into my Manchester University account. I don't why I felt the need to share this, but I just did :)

Besides I think I left just in time. They've changed the portal colours from a nice blue to shocking pink. Not my colour really to be honest, more Sara or Iram's thing really ;)

Phew! I have no outstanding loans/fines or books borrowed. No more modules that require me to enrol and my exam timetable cheerfully announces that all exams are now finished :D

Sweden ban and niqab ban

Why is there such uproar about the Minaret ban in Sweden? I don’t understand why people can’t grasp why this IS (probably) a good idea for Sweden. I mean how would you feel if people started building numerous churches, temples and synagogues in a country that is primarily Muslim? Not so nice when the situation is reversed is it? And besides can I just point out a few things… firstly, Sweden hasn’t placed a ban on building actual masjid’s, just the minarets that accompany them. And secondly and probably the most important point of all in my opinion… Sweden is NOT a Muslim country and therefore we should respect their views. Yet when you do try and explain this to someone else, you get accused of not being a ‘good’ Muslim!

Whilst we’re on the topic of bans, what about France and the furore over the niqaab worn by Muslim women. Again I agree with France to some extent. France is NOT a Muslim therefore we must learn to respect their views. Also in this current climate of terrorism, people are very frightened therefore it is easy to see why people may be wary of someone in a full niqaab (where only their eyes are showing). The whole point of the niqaab/ hijab is to preserve your modesty and not draw attention to yourself and yet nowadays, the total opposite occurs. As a Muslim girl, I often find myself paying more attention to ladies that choose to wear a full niqaab and yet I feel differently about the hijab as you are still observing your faith but at the same time your face is visible. I do not agree with is the treatment of those women who have chosen to wear the hijab, have endured. No one has the right to degraded other people like that. I find hijab’s acceptable and don’t see why they should be banned. So in conclusion; Niqaabs - no, Hijabs - yes. Simples.

Which brings me another topic (What? I’m on a roll, lol) about females and appropriate Islamic dress. Introducing the Islam friendly swimsuit...

I’m not sure what you all think, but oh my god! Why would you choose to wear that?! Seriously if I had to wear that, I’d rather just give up swimming, lol. If you are that desperate to swim. I am pretty sure that there are ‘ladies only’ swimming classes held in most swimming facilities. Besides, wearing that would surely just draw more attention to yourself? Yet at the same time I don’t think the French need to ban it, I mean whatever happened to personal freedom?

Depressing times...

Seriously how much bad luck can you get? I'm guessing Gordon Brown is probably feeling the same!

Stem cells; from the beginning – yes? (Part 2)

Stem cells are unique in that they are unspecialised (blank cells if you like) and are able to proliferate which simply means that they can multiply and make exact copies of themselves. Stem cells are also pluripotent meaning that they have the potential to become any type of adult cell and this process of specialisation is known as differentiation. Stem cells can differentiate into one of three types which are collectively known as the germ layers. The three types are as follows;

Ectoderm – The outer layer. Gives rise to the epidermis (skin), hair, pigment cells, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), sensory neurons and facial bones/tissues.

Mesoderm – The middle layer. Gives rise to the circulatory system (heart, blood and vessels), kidneys, gonads (ovaries/testes), muscle, bone and connective tissue.
Endoderm – The inner layer. Gives rise to lungs, thyroid and digestive organs i.e. stomach, liver, intestines, pancreas etc.

The diagram below illustrates the process of how stem cells are produced.

The maturation of stem cells

After conception, a tiny cluster of cells is formed which is called a blastocyst aka outer layer trophoblast. Stem cells can be derived from one of the following four origins.

Embryonic – cells are taken from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst.
Fetal – the embryo changes into a fetus and cells are extracted at the fetus stage.

Cord Blood – Cells are taken from the umbilical cord and placenta after birth.

Adult – cells are taken from adult tissues and are found in a variety of locations such as; brain, eyes, liver, skin, muscle, bone marrow and blood (see diagram below). Research into other possible sources of adult stem cells is still ongoing.

On second thoughts, the stages of maturation may be a more appropriate description of where/how stem cells can be derived. And herein lies the crux of problem; the reason why stem cells cause so much uproar in the media…

The main focus of protestors is the use of embryonic stem cells. In order to obtain embryonic stem cells, the human embryo has to be destroyed. As the embryo is classed as a human being, the destruction of the embryo amounts to murder, which is morally wrong. Furthermore manipulation of embryos could lead to reproductive cloning which in turn would to human life being devalued.

The utilitarian argument is that it is not fair to assume that embryo’s have an equal value as human life as they cannot survive independently outside the womb. In the natural female cycle, a lot of zygotes do not get implanted in the womb and are lost due to natural causes. Therefore rationally it is fair to say that a lot more embryos are lost naturally as opposed to the number of embryo’s that are used in research. Also as the embryos have no distinguishable organs, this means that they are no more human than a skin cell and should not be treated any differently. So there you have both sides of the argument, but where does that leave us in practical terms?

Please note that reproductive cloning is a different issue compared to therapeutic cloning i.e. developing therapies for diseases – think Dolly the sheep.

• Therapeutic cloning – adult cells for use in medicine and is an active area of research (see diagram below)
• Reproductive cloning – Involves making cloned humans
• Replacement cloning – theoretical possibility; combines therapeutic and reproductive cloning. It would entail the replacement of an extensively damaged and failing body via cloning followed by whole or partial brain transplant.

Embryo research in Britain is controlled by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Agency (HFEA). Although there are no laws at present to stop human cloning, the manipulation of embryos does require a licence that has to be issued by the HFEA and the UK government are also looking into bringing in legislation to make human cloning illegal for reproductive purposes.

State of affairs to date in the UK

Quoted from Wikipedia:

On 14 January 2001 the British government passed the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001 to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 by extending allowable reasons for embryo research to permit research around stem cells and cell nuclear replacement, thus allowing therapeutic cloning. However, on 15 November 2001, a pro-life group won a High Court legal challenge, which struck down the regulation and effectively left all forms of cloning unregulated in the UK. Their hope was that Parliament would fill this gap by passing prohibitive legislation. Parliament was quick to pass Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001 which explicitly prohibited reproductive cloning. The remaining gap with regard to therapeutic cloning was closed when the appeals courts reversed the previous decision of the High Court.

The first licence was granted on August 11, 2004 to researchers at the University of Newcastle to allow them to investigate treatments for diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, a major review of fertility legislation, repealed the 2001 Cloning Act by making amendments of similar effect to the 1990 Act. The 2008 Act also allows experiments on hybrid human-animal embryos.

 Places where cloning is illegal:

• In Germany, for example, all embryo research is banned. Any attempt to clone a human would therefore be outlawed.

• Legislation is already in place that would prevent human cloning in Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and most of Europe and Australia.

• Guidelines are in place in Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Singapore and Korea.

• In the United States, there is no federal law specifically banning human cloning but some states, such as Michigan, have civil controls.

So which countries completely outlaw human cloning at this moment in time. Well it is a little confusing but I would think the answer quiet simply is none of them and what we really need is for all the countries to get together and produce an international set of rules that are applicable to all countries.

Stem cells; from the beginning – yes? (Part 1)

Transplants have been and still are a huge step forward in the improving the lives of people via surgery, but that’s only just the surface of it. The future now seems to be growing body parts and organs that are tailor made for the patient. This in turn would decrease the risk of rejection plus the patients would not have to take immunosuppressants for the rest of their lives, which inevitably weakens their immune system.

Bearing in mind that a lot of time, effort and money is required for further research, it seems that stem cells are a promising way forward, allowing the regeneration of the patient’s own bone and tissue either within their own bodies or within a lab environment and the transplanted.

An exciting new field it may be, however along with its’ vast treatment potential, stem cells also seem to bring about a lot of controversy; politicians, government, the public, even scientists themselves. Furthermore the media have this amazing ability to take something completely out of context and misrepresent it to the general public making the topic seem either very confusing or poorly/wrongly understood.

In one of my previous posts (on curing baldness) a lot of people seemed confused by the topic of stem cells and I ended up emailing them to explain certain details/concepts further (not that I am an expert in any way but I just have a general interest in the area).

I wanted to write a new blog post on some upcoming research but realised that it probably won’t make much sense unless I explain the basics first. My problem is I’m not sure where to start. If I was teaching a tutorial, basics principles for scientists would lead to talks on cell ultra structure and culturing methods etc. I’m pretty sure that’s NOT what we’re aiming for here. Well not yet anyway. It reminds me of what a professor once said to me – ‘Simplicity is key. Enquiring minds will follow, just believe in yourself’. Imagine a yoda-esque glow around him if you will :P

So this is my attempt at explaining the basics... :)

Stem cells – update

A further update on upcoming stem cell research:

Ethical stem cells approved - 2nd December 2009

Firstly the USA approved ethical stem cells – great news. They have proper guidelines to stick too, no gray areas, which makes conducting research a lot easier. I mean there will always be protestor’s, but then it would feel rather odd if there weren’t any! :)

The stem cell boob job - 26 November 2009

The stem cell boob job involves taking fat from your thighs to boost your bust, which sounds like every women's dream. Probably not considered a major life saving health intervention but for every medical advance there is usually a cosmetic process that also reaps the rewards; some good and some bad.

Part of me feels this process is safer compared to silicone implants, which are basically an unnatural foreign material being inserted into your body. Plus there are the dangers of the material leaking and causing unwanted chemical and immune reactions. But there are some issues with this new process i.e. is it safe? Does it work? Stem cells also run the risk of genetic changes, which may be detrimental and possibly permanent in the long term. There are always pros and cons; an element of risk for every procedure; cosmetic or otherwise. I suppose we should all be thankful for what we have and how we are but if someone is really that desperate to change something about them, then it goes without saying that every process should be well thought out and researched before signing up for it.