I was directed to this recently published Science article by a Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine clinician-scientist while we were discussing the Dengvaxia debacle. As highlighted in a previous post, Sanofi Pasteur had reported that dengue-naive people would be at higher risk of a more severe infection if they were infected with dengue following vaccination […]
Three days ago, the Google Deepmind team uploaded a paper on the scientific pre-print server arXiv that is hosted by Cornell University without much fanfare (you cannot find it on the Deepmind website). Nonetheless, it was rapidly picked up by mainstream media – including the BBC among others – and chess players all around the […]
A paper published in Lancet Infectious Diseases (behind a paywall) by researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the French National Reference Centre for Escherichia coli, Shigella and Salmonella generated much buzz online among those interested in antimicrobial resistance. They had studied 288 historical (1911-1969) isolates of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium – a zoonotic bacterium that is one of the most common causes of non-typhoidal Salmonella […]
Sanofi-Pasteur released a media report on 29 November, warning that dengue-naive people would be at higher risk of a more severe infection if they were infected with dengue following vaccination with Dengvaxia – Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine that is also licensed for use in Singapore. This warning was based on the analysis of 6 years […]
It is one week after World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Nonetheless, raising awareness of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance is an ongoing process, and the team led by Dr Clarence Tam from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health set up their stations at Marine Parade Public Library this weekend. The library did not see as […]
It has been quite a long wait, but finally, investigators from the Environmental Health Institute (EHI – a part of the National Environment Agency) and the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) have published their work on tracing the source of the unusual ST283 Group B Streptococcus (GBS) that caused the huge raw freshwater fish-associated […]
I was privileged to be invited for the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) annual scientific retreat last Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the Thursday sessions, but I was very impressed by the work done there. It is virtually all basic science, but the results of the metagenomics […]
While the first prize was the JC/Polytechnic section was deservedly awarded to Mstr Fong Khi Yung from Raffles Institution, for his work of futuristic fiction. More by the microscopic than the colossal On some evenings, I walk through the expressionless countryside fields undulating in the wind, gazing up at the crimson heavens and golden sunset […]
And the top prize for the Post-Antibiotic World Essay Competition goes to Chan Ger Hui. Well-deserved! A Post-Antibiotic World It all started with one small holiday And one very small spore. Stray fungi growing on a petri dish Was soon to be so much more. Remember for this discovery Fleming— But forget not Florey, Chain, […]
This clearly written effort from Suhaina Yasmin of Tanjong Katong Girls’ School netted her the second prize in our Post-Antibiotic World Essay Competition. One of our judges was deeply impressed and persuaded the other two to revise their scores! The War Between Man and Mutant Along with other crises of the world like terrorism and […]
MIPHIDIC 