Our success is a test from Allah

And when any trouble touches man, he calls on Us, then when We grant him any favour from Us, he says, 'I have got it because of a certain knowledge.' Nay! It is only a trial, but most of them know not.

" Maka apabila manusia ditimpa bencana dia menyeru kami, kemudian kami berikan nikmat Kami kepadanya dan dia berkata "Sesunguhnya aku diberikan nikmat ini hanyalah kepintaranku" Sebenarnya ini adalah ujian dan meraka tidak ramai yang mengetahui." (Surah Az-zumar 39: 49)

As student, we always study hard to get the good result.  and as Muslims we pray to Allah to give favour to us  to help us succeed in academic. The combination of work hard and tawakkal to Allah is the key of success. and every hard times, failures and mistakes we believe as the test from Allah to test our iman.

But when Allah give us "nikmat" which is a success, we always arrogantly said " My success is because of me,  my hard works paid by this success" But we always forgot that Our success is The favour from the Lord. and it is actually  a test from Allah to test our iman.

Let us "mujahadah". Think and praise to The Lord because give us favour every moment.

What make us human?

     During school when the teacher ask to student what are different between Human and Chimpanzees.Some student will answer " Teacher, Chimpanzees did not have brain but Human have", which means human can think but chimpanzees can't. Some student may answer " Chimpanzees can't speak English but human can", and also students may also answer " Human can finish up your homework but chimpanzees never finish it". And some naughty voice interrupted, " If you did not finish your homework you are chimpanzees in human skin.(hahahaha).The very simple answer can bring to very deep explanation about this difference genetically. So how?


For your information, Humans are distinct from chimpanzees in a number of important respects, despite sharing nearly 99 percent of their DNA (which means their DNA 99% homology and only 1% difference. What are so significance of 1 % difference to produce very difference species using the idea of ability to think.


1% of difference can also give very big change in DNA. 1 % of  3 billions of letters that build human genome which means they differ in about 15 million letter. What are so interesting is the in 1 % difference, on some sequence involve in the brain formation which is gene HAR1 and ASPM. Another  genes are FOXP2 (involve in oral communinacation), AMY1,LCT and HAR2( capability to do work).


HAR1, Active in the brain; may be necessary for development of the cerebral cortex, which is especially large in humans(involve overlapping genes). Possibly also involved in sperm production. ASPM controls brain size, which has more than tripled over the course of human evolution.Both genes increase the complexity of human brain compare to chimpanzees.

FOXP2, facilitates formation of words by the mouth, enabling modern human speech. Its role in speech was discovered by researchers at the University of Oxford in England, who reported in 2001 that people with mutations in the gene are unable to make certain subtle, high-speed facial movements needed for normal human speech, even though they possess the cognitive ability to process language.

AMY1,Facilitates digestion of starch, which may have enabled early humans to exploit novel foods. Changes in the gene AMY1, which encodes salivary amylase, an enzyme involved in digesting starch, constitute one well-known adaptation of this kind. The mammalian genome contains multiple copies of this gene, with the number of copies varying between species and even between individual humans. But overall, compared with other primates, humans have an especially large number of AMY1 copies. In 2007 geneticists at Arizona State University showed that individuals carrying more copies of AMY1 have more amylase in their saliva, thereby allowing them to digest more starch. The evolution of AMY1 thus appears to involve both the number of copies of the gene and the specific changes in its DNA sequence.




The gene for lactase (LCT), an enzyme that allows mammals to digest the carbohydrate lactose, also known as milk sugar. In most species, only nursing infants can process lactose. But around 9,000 years ago—very recently,in evolutionary terms—changes in the human genome produced versions of LCT that allowed adults to digest lactose. Modified LCT evolved independently in European and African populations, enabling carriers to digest milk from domesticated animals. Today adult descendants of these ancient herders are much more likely to tolerate lactose in their diets than are adults from other parts of the world, including Asia and Latin America, many of whom are lactose-intolerant as a result of having the ancestral primate version of the gene.


HAR2, Drives gene activity in the wrist and thumb during development,an activity that may have given the hand enough dexterity to make and use complex tools. In more detail, HAR2, a gene regulatory region and the second most accelerated site on my list, is a case in point. In 2008 researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory showed that specific base differences in the human version of HAR2 (also known as HACNS1), relative to the version in nonhuman primates, allow this DNA sequence to drive gene activity in the wrist and thumb during fetal development, whereas the ancestral version in other primates cannot. This finding is particularly provocative because it could underpin morphological changes in the human hand that permitted the dexterity needed to manufacture and use complex tools. This gene involve the novel physical structure in human that only organism has opposing thumb, thus can create tools or operates machine or do works.

As conclusions, the 1 % difference between human and chimpanzees give human ability to think,(because of complexity of the brain structure compare to chimp), to speak, to has innovation in making tools and operates machine and also the advance in digestive system. 

Prevent better then cure- " Curb the next pandemic before its too late"

Did you know most of infectious diseases in human are originated from animals. Historically, human blames domestic animal that cause the disease, but wild animal also the major culprit transmitted the disease in human including HIV. HIV or AIDS is believed originated from chimpanzees.

How the disease transmitted from animal to human? The process by which a pathogen of animals evolves into one exclusive to humans occurs in five stages. Agents can become stuck in any of these stages. Those in early stages may be very deadly (Ebola, for example), but they claim few lives overall because they cannot spread freely among humans. The better able a virus is to propagate in humans, the more likely it is to become a pandemic. The  5 stages:

Stage 1: Pathogen is present in animals but has not been detected in humans under natural conditions.

Stage 2: Animal pathogen has been transmitted to humans but not between humans.

Stage 3: Animal pathogen that can be transmitted between humans causes an outbreak of disease but only for        a short period before dying out.

Stage 4: Pathogen exists in animals and undergoes a regular cycle of animal-to-human transmission but also sustains long outbreaks arising from human-to-human transmission.

Stage 5: Pathogen has become exclusive to humans

It can be illustrate by the figure below:

The people in the rural area or native people is more chance to in contact with wild animal ( more possibility  the disease to transfer) because everyday in their daily life, they make contact with wild type animal- as food, or pets.

How we prevent it? Nathan Wolfe is Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Human Biology at Stanford University and the director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative has take one prevention  method to curb the emergence of pandemic. Their initiated a study of viruses in rural villagers in the Central African country of Cameroon who hunt and butcher wild animals, as well as keep them as pets. They  were trying to determine whether new strains of HIV were entering into human populations, and They suspected that these people would be at particularly high risk of infection. By taking their blood samples, their analyses of the blood from the hunters and the hunted revealed several animal viruses not previously seen in humans. One agent, which they  first reported in a paper published in 2004 in Lancet, is known as simian foamy virus (SFV), and it is a member of the same family of viruses— the so-called retroviruses—to which HIV belongs. SFV is native to most primates, including guenon monkeys, mandrills and gorillas, and each of these primate species harbors its own genetically distinctive variant of the bug. We found that all three variants had entered the hunter populations. In one particularly telling example, a 45-year-old man who reported having hunted and butchered gorillas—animals rarely pursued by subsistence hunters—had contracted gorilla SFV.

In those same Central African populations they also found a variety of retroviruses known as human T lymphotropic viruses (HTLVs), so named because of their propensity for infecting immune cells called T lymphocytes. Two of the HTLVs, HTLV-1 and HTLV-2, were already well known to affect millions of people around the world and contribute to cancer and neurological disease in some infected individuals. But HTLV-3 and HTLV-4, which we described in 2005 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, were new to science. Given the high degree of genetic similarity between HTLV-3 and its simian counterpart, STLV-3, it appears as if this virus was picked up through hunting STLV-3-infected monkeys. The origin of HTLV-4 remains unclear, but perhaps they will find its primate ancestor as they continue to explore these viruses in monkeys. They do not yet know whether SFV or the new HTLVs cause illness in people. Viruses do not necessarily make their hosts sick, and viruses that do sicken people and even spread from person to person do not always cause pandemics; often they retreat spontaneously. But the fact that SFV and HTLV are in the same family as HIV, which did spawn a global epidemic, means that epidemiologists must keep a close eye on them.

By using  that method, (epidemiology study) on the rural area, the  emergence of new types of virus  can be detect and the further action can be taken to prevent it to be pandemic. WHO has taken this action to all possible place in this world to detect the emergence of viruses in particular types of disease. For example, In Malaysia, the viruses tha previously spawned is Nipah virus and the target population is wildlife hunters.

Had we been watching hunters 30 years ago, we might have been able to catch HIV early, before i t reached the pandemic state. But that moment has passed. The question now is, How can we prevent the next big killers? Once  they (Nathan Wolfe and colleague) had determined that we could study remote populations effectively, we knew we could extend our work more broadly to listen in on viral “chatter”—the pattern of transfer of animal viruses to humans. With global surveillance, we realized, we might be able to sound the alarm about an emerging infectious disease before it boils over.

Main reference- from article in Scientific American Magazines April 2009 titled "Preventing The next Pandemic"

Allah not create something as "Junk"

And We have not made the heavens and the earth and what is in between them in vain. This is the thought of the infidels. There fore woe is to the infidels because of the Fire.

"Dan kami tidak menjadi langit dan bumi dan diantara kedua adalah  sia-sia. Itu adalah angapan orang-orang kafir, maka celaka lah orang-orang kafir itu karena mereka akan masuk neraka" (surah sod 38:27)

This sentence I take from Al-Quran which is in Surah Sod, (38:27).  In Islamic perspective, God not create something useless. Just take a look in genetic's point of view. basically we talk about introns. Some scientist simply conclude that the introns or non-coding gene classified as "junk" gene.

This idea totally wrong right now. The introns generally  play  important roles act as regulator in  eukaryotic cell system. So to all geneticist and scientist, please change your perspective about the introns. They do not junk. They play a vital roles.

Primates and eyes vision

Did you know how primates trichromatic eyes vision evolve? After has several reading, for me the pathway of the evolution is very beautiful. To understand it, is not rocket science, just a basic knowledge about genetic.

The informations from readings catch my attention  to write this post because  they give the good example of how the mutation via gene duplication give the benefit to primates and also the evolution of the old world primates and new world primates is differ and also they give good explanation about X-inactivation in female.

First, I would like to summarize 2 different pathway of evolution in primates colour vision. Before I explain more detail, just for your information mammals have 2 type of eyes vision dichromatic and trichromatic. The figures below show that the different between dichromatic and.trichromatic:

In human is trichromatic eyes vision which have 3 pigment M,L and S. M and L pigment genes  next to each other on the chromosome X and S pigment on the chromosome 7. Human and Old World primates shares a common pathway of the evolution of eyes colour vision.


Humans and other Old World primates carry both M- and L-pigment genes on each of their X chromosomes and have trichromatic vision. But in testing the color vision of New World primates over the past several decades, one of us (Jacobs) discovered that trichromacy occurs only in a subset of females. All of the New World males and roughly a third of the New World females examined showed the lack of sensitivity to colour differences in the middle-to-long wavelengths that is typical of dichromats. Trichromacy was not universal among primates after all.

How to explain the phenomena above? I just want to give keys in understanding the phenomena. In explaining the evolution from dichromatic to trichromatic it involve several mutation. In the case of New world primate, the explanation is about the X-inactivation and the role of randomness.

Lets go deeper in how the evolution of dichromatic to trichromatic. In common ancestors of both Old World and New World primates the ancestral X-linked of longer-wave-length pigment underwent the successive mutation which are produce the 3  longer-wave-length pigment in the gene pool.


After the Old World and New World primate lineages became isolated from each other (geographical isolation),an error in recombination in the Old World Primates, which is the gene duplication occur and produce 2 pigment of eyes vision at the X-chromosome. This phenomena explain why M-pigment gene and L-pigment gene on human X-chromosome are almost identical.

The different story if we look at New World primates, they did not have the gene duplication and all the male are dichromatic and some female are trichromatic. Why some female are trichromatic?. X-inactivation will explain this phenomena. Female has 2 X-chromosome so need to inactivate to balanced the expression of XY males. The role of randomness of X-inactivation in retina make some New World primates female has trichromatic eyes vision.

Based  on the role of randomness in X-inactivation in retina, the female of the Old World primate has potential to have 4 types of eyes vision pigment. This phenomena called super colour vision.

Reference- Mostly based on article in Sciencetific American April 2009- "the evolution of primates eyes vision"

Think harder and you can save your new brain cell!

  
  Recently, I have read an article in Scientific American March 2009 titled "Saving New Brain Cells" by Tracey J. Shors. This article about the finding of neurologist about the capability of mammalian brain to sprout new neurons cell. In 1990, neurologist found that  thousands of new cells are generated in the adult brain everyday,particularly in the hippocampus,a structure involved in learning and memory. Within a couple of weeks, most of those newborn neurons will die, unless the it is challenged to learn something new. Learning—especially that involving a great deal of effort—can keep these new neurons alive.
     In the rat studies, they shows that relied on “eyeblink conditioning” experiments to discover that working hard to learn something enhances the survival of new neurons. They began with a classical form of the experiment (top), in which an animal hears a tone that is followed half a second later by a stimulus that
will make it blink. After several hundred trials, most animals learn to blink just before the stimulus arrives. Because the tone and the blink-inducing stimulus are separated in time, figuring out when to blink is difficult; this task rescues a large fraction of newborn neurons. Rats master readily an easier version of the test—in which the blink stimulus overlaps with the tone (middle); this task does not enhance survival of new neurons. Making conditions more challenging—by having the rat wait much longer before the stimulus arrives (bottom)—rescues more neurons than even the classical approach does

From the experiment above, we can conclude that harder the difficulty of the learning process, more newborn neuron cells we can saved. In my own opinion based on  the experiment, in learning something that difficult or something that we don't have natural talent on it, for me I'm very suck in drawing.(hahahaha). But its okay because at least in learning process you can save your very precious cell which is the brain cells.

If you have interest in one field or skills that you the  have zero talent on it, just keep trying until succeed. Don't bother with other people says, like "you're idiot", "you are numb" because of the simple thing you can't understand (because they are really talented on that skills). Never give up.

The God is Al-Muqsith (The Equitable One), He did not create the very fast learner and the slow learner without any reasons. To the fast learner, the God give you the ability to help the others and using your brain for good, and
the slow learner the God give benefits to increase your brain potential and eventually both fast learner and slow learner are genius.