MIT Grad Blog

Okay, this is perhaps too geeky of a spin from the classic green eggs and ham, but I thought it might get some nerdy biologists’ attention.

My intention is not to talk about Dr. Seuss in this entry but on genetically modified food. I read an interesting article the other day on New York Times about genetically modified food and its influence on the developing countries.

The article included several perspectives from well-known scholars of various fields. As young professionals with extensive and rigorous scientific training, we should be able to chime into the discussion as well.

The statistics on world hunger is quite grim (yet not hopeless!) According to UN estimate, the number of hungry people in the world will rise to over 1 billion this year. That is 1 in 6 people. Think about it. (If the lab in which I work is the world, that will mean about 3.5 people in my lab will go to bed hungry this year. I’m imagining how the conversation will go down. “Hi, Nate. you are not going to get enough to eat for the next six months. Deal with it;” or “Hi, Anusuya, your stomach is growling again.” Okay, my point is not to starve Nate or Anusuya but to stress the point that when we talk about the number of hungry people, we are talking about real people – as real as you and me and Nate and Anusuya.)

So back to my point, as rational thinkers, we need to confront the challenge to drastically increase food production in the next decade to feed the world whose population is still increasing. How do we do it?

Ms. Shiva, the founder of Navdanya, is an opponent of genetically modified foods. According to her, “The claim by the genetic engineering industry that without genetically modified food we cannot respond to climate change is simply false….The green revolution that we are building through Navdanya is based on conserving biodiversity and conserving water while increasing food production per acre. What we need is biodiversity intensification, not chemical intensification. What we need is to work with nature’s nutrient cycles and hydrological cycle, not against them. It is time to put small farmers, especially women, at the heart of this process.” Many argue against big industrious farming practices.

While shopping at farmer’s markets is indeed a pleasant experience, I personally believe that’s a rich world luxury. I don’t believe there is any chance to feed the entire world in such fashion. Besides, if we only rely on local/regional produce, instead of enjoying biodiversity, we actually will be very limited in our food choices. However, I’m again digressing. I’m not attempting to discuss operations and transportation of food. I’m talking about the need for science and technology to create high-yield food and climate-change adaptive crops. I don’t claim to be an expert in this field at all, but I’m actually really puzzled by why people are so terrified of genetically-modified foods. We have been eating fortified cereals without any problems and taking synthesized small molecules medications with an ease of mind. So why all the fuss about genetically modified foods?

Is genetically-modified food ideal? No. Just like taking supplemental vitamins in pill forms isn’t perfect either. Perhaps food scientists need to de-mystify genetically-modified food and tell people what it actually is. Secondly, I believe we have the responsibility to think pragmatically. The rate required to increase food production is way higher than natural evolution. When millions and millions of children go blind from vitamin A deficiency, is it not a good idea to enhance the natural production of vitamin A in common foods that people eat in developing countries?

I can’t help but wonder if the resistance comes from ignorance or naivety. The huge increase in hunger is real. Incremental changes in farming habits are not enough to combat the rapid increase of child malnutrition. Instead of an irrational debate based on fictitious claims, science, technology, facts and, above all, open and logical minds should enable us to truly solve the problem with world hunger. Science alone will not solve the problem, but without it we will  only be paralyzed in a world of meaningless arguments. And 1 in 6 people will go to bed hungry tonight.

So happy that Brazil gets to host the 2016 Olympics. No offense to the other three great cities but I personally think this is symbolic of the rising importance of emerging markets and developing countries.

Brazil – 2016; Russia – 2014; China – 2008: with all the excitements for the BRIC economies, I might put some money down for India to host an Olympic in the not-so-distant future. how does 2020 Mumbai sound?

(Alex sent a polite email to tell the bloggers to get on with our blogs and bring out the typing fingers, so here I am again expressing my confusions about the world.)

Two recent encounters made me ponder on the question of our responsibilities in managing and handling technologies we have created and how that fits into our society as a whole.

First, I learned on a random TV talk show that now there is a gender-ID device that can tell the gender of the fetus when women are only 2 mths pregnant. They introduced it with such joy and zeal. More time to think about baby names; decorate baby rooms; buy new baby clothes….I was deeply concerned. Imagine the world where sex-selective abortions are already rampant in many countries. Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen pointed out there are likely millions of missing women in the world – women that would’ve existed had there been no gender discrimination at all. I recall a sobering paper I read once with the line “rather pay x rupees (for sex-selective abortion) now than y rupees for dowries later.” and y>>x. (pause for a moment and think about the weight of that.)

My point here is not to discuss gender inequality but recognize the existence of it. Furthermore, it’s to examine how a technology like the urine-based gender-ID test will likely to influence the existing situation. A pregnancy terminated at 5-month (when gender is usually determined through visual ultrasound) poses a much higher risk for the women.  That risk certainly poses as a cost and serious deterrence for women undergoing sex-selective abortions. With an advanced technology that removes the risk, what will be the consequences? Is this a technology worth having? Do we need more missing girls and women? Will a positive educational campaign be good enough to counter balance any negative outcomes with this technology?

From talking about sex-selective abortion to a totally different topic, I recently learned about high-frequency trading – transactions that happen in fractions of a second with the aide of super computers. I am not an expert in finance but this almost sounds like a scam to me. It’s like insider trading except you are working on the time scale of seconds rather than days. It creates no value to anyone. Period. Maybe except for those people who profit from the system.  I can’t help but be a little worked up about this. Somehow, I still naively thought that financial rewards should go to those to create value for the society? Somehow I thought the tax payers just had to save the entire financial system because of the lack of long-term vision on Wall Street?

I can’t help but wonder if our moral compass has improved at the same pace as our technological advances. Yes, we can create regulations to outlaw sex-selective abortions or deter high-frequency trading. But I’m incredulous of the possible effect without our moral buy-ins. We are a bunch of engineers and intelligent young professionals. It is our responsibilities to make certain that technologies are for the betterment of the people and the society. Making a quick buck or potentially exacerbating gender discrimination should not be part of our job descriptions. We are smarter and better than that.

If you are like me, somehow the conversation every year on this day starts off reminiscing on the day when i was a freshman in college sitting in my physics recitation when the TA announced the news that changed the face of America. This year, it was no exception. On my way to campus, I was repeating for the eighth time of my TA’s anger and shock and listening to a friend talk about the reactions in his dorm room.

It is intriguing that the memory, unlike most, is as fresh as ever. Eight years later, there are still many unresolved challenges, some intelligence breakthroughs and perhaps some exacerbated dangers. We waged a war that actually has nothing to do with 9-11. The war that might actually matter in battling the Taliban and Al Qaeda is generating doubts. I am by no means an expert in foreign policies. This entry only serves as my humble reflection on this sobering day.

President Obama talked about the character of America in his speech to both houses yesterday. I can’t help but wonder what that is. As he eloquently put it, “One of the unique and wonderful things about America has always been our self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government.” However, I was more moved by his mention of the big-heartedness of the American people.

On 9/11, I think it’s this big-heartedness that we should remind ourselves about America and being an American. Americans are generous, compassionate, and patriotic. Private donations for developing countries from the U.S. far exceed any other country. Americans are generous not only with financial assistance for the poor, but also with their time. I can still remember my high school English teacher taking extra time off of her weekend to meet with me to work on my very poorly-written Chinglish essay. Americans are compassionate. That’s why we have heated (and mostly civil) debates. But on this day, Americans are utmost patriotic. It is a country born from a revolution, led by relentless and courageous patriots. It is a country, as it was proven eight years ago, that is able to set aside partisanship and unite together.

It’s heartening to know that this patriotism is within each one of us. Perhaps, today is the day we can once again reinvigorate the characters of America and realize that we are too generous to let our poor go uninsured, too compassionate to allow insurance companies to reject the sick when they need it the most, and too patriotic to sit on our hands and do nothing.

It is on this monumental day we pay our condolences to those who died, respect to those who sacrificed their lives to save others, and remember once again we are big-hearted Americans.

I’d like to conclude this entry with a quote from President Kennedy -

“So let us not be blind to our differences – but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”

Feeling very hopeful as I think about Senator Ted Kennedy’s passing. Not because I opposed his agenda but I realized you can make a great impact to the world without being perfect.

Ted Kennedy was not perfect. He cheated on his exam in college and got suspended. He got into a bad car accident which killed one person and did not report to the police for hours. He was  a womanizer. He might have cheated on his first wife. He had a lot more ear marks in the senate compared to many other senators.

However, all that is not what we remember about Ted Kennedy. I remember him as the consistent and loud voice for health care reform before this current widespread debate started. He fought for women and immigrants’ rights. He was able to go across the aisle and find common ground with the Republican party. He represented the residents of Massachusetts with dignity, morality, and tenacity.

Some of what he supported was received ambivalently. He repeatedly acquired funding for the rather ill-planned big dig. Billions and billions of dollars and years and years postponement later, Boston now has green parks through the city rather than a big ugly highway protruding throughout. I cannot say which was worse – exorbiantly expensive underground highway or an eye-sore to this lovely historic city.

Whether what he advocated was strongly supported or received with mixed feelings, what is admirable about him is his persistence in what he believed in. He relentlessly pushed for health care for everyone, even when it was not on the radar, even when no one really cared. It’s perhaps this unwavering courage and resolution is what he will be best remembered for. His footsteps will be followed. His imprints to the American democracy will be long cherished.

This got me thinking – how do we leave our marks? What’s comforting to know is that the answer does not lie in perfection. It’s okay to make mistakes and be flawed. Maybe a lesson we should take from Senator Kennedy is to pursue stubbornly and indefatigably in what we believe in. He did and now health care is finally on the senate agenda. He did and now Head Start program helps thousands of youth from low-income families. Yesterday, America lost a visionary leader. But I’m wishfully certain that more were born. More great, influential, persistent and imperfect Americans.

I go to the movies when it’s rainy outside, as it had been for the most part of this summer. I go to the movies when it’s hot outside as it has been for the past two weeks. So basically, if you ask me what I did this summer, I guess I will tell you that I spent it either in the Kendall cinema or the Somerville theater.

I have to confess. I’m not very big into hollywood movies – was never a huge fan of vampires, wizards or any sort of super hero, robots transforming into porsche type of movies. But there are a lot of advantages in watching with indie films. Not only are they great to for dates and discussions afterwards, in order to decide whether you’d want to see that person again, but they are also much more thoughtful or easy to relate to. When was the last time your friend fell in love with a vampire? I didn’t think so.

This has been one of the best movie summers for my taste. Here are a sample i loved and watched over the summer.

The Departures – This is the best foreign film of the 2009 academy award. It’s Japanese. It tells a poignant story about a mid-age man who was let go from his beloved career as a cellist but instead found passion in preparing the deceased for funerals. For me, the movie was quintessential Japanese. It’s filled with intricate emotions and subtle implications. When i walked out of the theater, I felt like as if I had just eaten a plate of delicately prepared sashimi where every type of fish was just ever so slightly different and i really had to pay attention to savor it.

Whatever works – This is another Woody Allan movie set in NYC. Larry David was his satirical self and I thought Woody Allan could’ve probably played the part as well. But I always find that, with the exception of Annie Hall, Woody Allan’s movies are better without him. Woody Allan has this way of making a sad and hopelessly blah movie cheerful. The movie is centered around this one psychotic old guy who marries this Southern girl who came to NYC for the first time to escape from her parents. The interaction between the old bitter guy and the sweet as pie Southern girl was hilarious and endearing. The story has a very happy ending as well. A light-hearted movie for a lazy sunday afternoon, perhaps?

Julie and Julia – Made me so hungry when I saw the movie! also made me wonder if GSC blog will ever make me famous too. :p You probably have heard this movie being talked about – a girl who blogged about her cooking journey through Julia Child’s cook book. However, I like to think about the movie as two stories of defiance. Julie was stuck in a dead-end job, and Julia did not see much meaning in her life. Both of them made a promise to themselves to stick to a goal and achieved it. Julia Child was a strong woman and Julie was not. But through her journey, Julie confronted her ghosts and became a much stronger woman. No, I will never bone a whole duck but I wouldn’t mind  watching the movie again or inviting myself to your house for dinner when you try to cook Julia Child’s recipes. :p

Up - This pixar movie was very touching. I’d almost like to say that it’s more for adults than for kids. I liked Wall-E but I LOVED Up. Maybe it has something to do with my obsession with the adorableness of old people. The story is about fulfilling a childhood dream when you are old, arthritic and wrinkly. Nevertheless, through the journey, one realizes that the castle in the cloud was actually in your own home. It served as a nice reminder of doing a reality check periodically to know what we are really looking for. Perhaps, your dream girl or boy is the one sitting on the sofa next to you or your dream job is doing some hard science – which you probably already are as an MIT grad student.

Hollywood, I’m Sleeping Over – This movie was pure hilarity.  I wrote about it before, but it’s a French film about this comedian who came to the States. He crossed from Florida through New Orleans onward to the west coast with the goal to sleep in George Clooney’s house. Some of the stuff he did in the movie was absolutely hilarious. At the same time, his encounters in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans or on the Indian Reservation in Arizona did reflect some of the not-so-funny sides of America. Yes, it is a land of dreams and movie stars, but it’s also a land of imperfections and struggles.

Away We Go – “we might be fuck-ups” (can i say this on this blog?) Anyway, that’s the line that stuck with me from the movie. The movie is about a couple in their 30’s wondering/wandering through life. They were not sure where they should end up or where to go. Looking at all their friends and successful careers, it’s hard not to question if you have made some major mishaps along the way. Perhaps this movie resonated so because I often wonder the same thing. If I am doing the right thing being a graduate student? Can I one day be a highly-educated fuck-up too? I don’t know. I guess I will find out.

(500) Days of Summer – Just went to see this movie this evening. Alone. After having my decent share of summer flings, this movie was a nice finish – like a glass of cava with lemon sorbet. It’s not your standard run-of-the-mill romantic comedy. Actually it’s far from it. It is about two kinds of people – men and women – and fate. There is something that is meant to be. And there are others, well – you have to find out.

This is what I can immediately recall of what I enjoyed over the summer. I would like to think that I learned a little more about the world as well as myself after seeing all these movies. Oh, and I just checked the Kendall cinema website and there are at least 5 more I want to see. I guess research can always wait a little longer. :p

I am typically enthusiastic to see my hometown, Taiwan, being in the international spotlight. But not so much today, when I clicked on the New York Times and saw the desperate faces of the Taiwanese people rendered homeless from last week’s typhoon.

I actually didn’t think that much of it when I first heard from my parents that they were getting a couple of days off from work because of the typhoon last week. I used to love those typhoon holidays. Usually those were the times that my entire family gathered under one roof playing some silly games and watching the rain pouring down from the sky. This might sound silly, but it used to make me feel a bit closer to my family on those typhoon holidays.

However, as more and more news came to my attention, I realized that this typhoon was not one of those that people were prepared for. It was a lot worse. Mudslides and lost homes. Villages getting buried and hunger. Thousands upon thousands of people are stranded. This typhoon caused the worst flood in Taiwan in the past half a century.

As a selfish attempt, please consider contributing to the rescue effort. There are many great organizations in the disaster zone saving lives, one person at a time. One helicopter ride at a time for 16 hours a day. They need more clean water, food, and medical supplies. Red Cross and Tzu-Chi Foundation are at two of the many NGOs that are at the front line making sure the stranded villagers are being taken care of. Tzu-chi Foundation accepts google checkout, all major credit cards as well as paypal.  Every dollar helps! All donations are tax-exempt.

Immediate rescue effort aside, this disaster got me thinking about emergency relief. Taiwanese media is notorious in being critical and pugnacious. In the Taiwanese news, they talked about some of the residents living deep in the mountains and could not be rescued in time. The logistics of notifying the families and matching recovered bodies to the missing people’s list are less than perfect. However, I am actually incredibly impressed with the efficiency of the government and NGOs and the kindness and generosity of the Taiwanese people.

The Taiwanese president has gone to the affected areas again and again and apologized for the residents’ suffering. The ambulances have been running nonstop going into the villages trying to move people out of their homes. Large donations have poured in from industries and the public (although more is always better.) Compare to how Katrina was handled here, I’m really darn proud of Taiwan. Media can report that our equipment was not up-to-date and ill-prepared for a major disaster. However, the government would’ve received the same or worse scrutiny for spending unnecessary funding on emergency relief had the flood not happened. There is always cost-effectiveness to be considered for emergency relief. Then when a disaster does strike, it is up to the government’s response time to best utilize these resources and forge international assistance program. I have to say, I think Taiwan has done a tremendous job. Instead of flying over the flooded area, all the government officials were waist deep in the water listening to people’s concerns. The triage system has been promptly set up in classrooms for those rescued. Electricity has been restored in many places. People are continuously being carried out from remote villages. Things are still tough, but people are working together to make it better.

At a crisis like it is in Taiwan now, it is not the time to point fingers or play partisan politics. It is time to get our act together and get something done and get people saved. We can all do our part.

Read an NYT article about the execution of the former director of the Beijing airport for taking bribes. This got me thinking about the serious topic of capital punishment, not specifically targeting a country or a state, but just the idea of taking away someone’s live for what they have done.

I personally believe that there are some crimes so heinous that no other kinds of punishment will justify the magnitude of the act or alleviate some of the pain incurred to the victims and their loved ones. What accounts for a heinous crime will depend on govermental policies as well as personal opinions. To show the stern stand against corruption, the Chinese central government imposes this severe punishment for those who take brides. I am not sure why, but for some reason, I just seemed to not be able to feel comfortable with this idea (although it seems more okay to me that old Bernie Madoff the scumbag got more than 100 years in prison.) Perhaps the difference lies in the act of taking a person’s life away. Somehow, that seems a lot more monumental to me than restricting their freedom for the rest of their lives.

On a certain level, I can understand why the Chinese government decides to impose such harsh punishments. Corruption is rampant in China, as it is in many other developing countries. There have been reports that capital fled to secret accounts from African leaders annually is more than the annual foreign aid. It is absolutely necessary for steady progress of any nation. There is a Chinese saying that literally says “killing a chicken to warn the monkies.” I’m not sure about the animal choices, but it in essence says that maybe one needs to be very harsh in order to keep other people on their toes. However, is capital punishment for taking bribes too much?

I think, generally speaking, I’m relieved and glad to see the release of the two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling. The picture of Euna Lee hugging her little girl after several months of sleepless nights and intense fear is priceless. The idea that I live in a country where the government took on extra effort to save a couple of people’s lives makes me proud to be an American. BUT somehow I am miffed to see that in some sense, Kim, Jong-il won. Now he has vindicated his power since a former US president has to come to him to ask for favors. The way we look at it in the US, it’s a purely humanitarian effort, and it ought to stay that way. However, he probably sees this as an encouragement of his belligerent and oppressive behaviors. Why is it always the good people that back away?

okay, you are probably thinking this girl is crazy. At the end of the day, we won. We, the people with compassion and empathy, want to see families unite and individiuals freed. I agreed and that’s exactly why I am perplexed and ambivalent.

This got me thinking about thick-skinness. In order to get what we really want, do we have to be thick-skinned? Ultimately, Americans want the journalists freed. To do so,  Bill Clinton and many other people involved just had to endure what the North Korean government requests and says. Had sargent Crowley been more thick-skinned, maybe he would’ve walked away from the heated words that were exchanged and saved a lot of diverted energy from health care reform. I guess, sometimes, one just have to bargain with the unbargainables, with a long term vision and some thick skin.

When I’m not laboring away turning stem cells into cardiomyocytes or drinking my research frustration away at CBC, I volunteer with a project called PATS - Pediatric AIDS Treatment Support.  We hire community health workers, in central China, who visit HIV/AIDS children at least once a month and establish linkages between the doctors and the patients. When I first got involved, I was taking several global health/international development classes. I considered myself pretty wired to the success Partners In Health had with community health workers in Haiti and Rwanda. I have to shamefully admit that I thought this project which “only” took care of 40 children was insignificant and would be up and running in no time.

Wasn’t I wrong! I realized that what classes didn’t tell me was that the key to a successful project isn’t only the great idea or model, but also the nuisance details. The course curriculum taught me that I should be careful with cultural sensitivity, but never would I thought I should budget in the fact that Chinese people like to eat hot lunches and there are no restaurants in the villages, so the workers would only like to go to the villages for half day.

I can’t help but be surprised by the “texture” of fieldwork. It’s something no powerpoint presentation or business model can truly grasp. It takes a lot of patience, some punching in the pillows, occasional international calls to friends and family to vent off disappointments. However, at the end of the day, seeing a steady increase of a child’s CD4 count makes all the tears and sweat worthwhile.

At MIT, we are trained to be leaders, to think holistically. When we think about international development or social entrepreneurship, we think about Nobel Laureate, Mohammad Yunus, or large macroeconomics debate on aid, the Sachs vs. Easterly conumdrum. These discussions are absolutely necessary and critical. However, I would like to propose a new model of thinking – sometimes saving a life involves running around in a village looking for a photocopier or chewing over words so no one’s feelings are hurt or borrowing laser cutter from your friend’s lab to make fundraiser items (Thanks, Priam!)  Sometimes it’s the smallest detail that determines whether a child will sleep under a bednet or not.  Yes, Ted talks are awesome but true changes don’t happen in an air-conditioned conference room. It’s never that grand, put-together or glamorous.

With all that said, I’m not trying to sound like you should ditch all the great courses MIT has to offer. I’m by no means an expert and have really been doing it as a side hobby. I encourage you to take these classes offered by the poverty action lab, D-lab, G-lab, HST.939….the list goes on and on. Just remember, chances are you are not going to change the world in a semester, but the world will never change if you don’t do something.