Just yesterday, I received a text message some 15mins after I had left my place to go out for lunch with my mum, telling me that I had to select my mini project for my experimental module for molecular and cell biology (the one that set me back a bloody 150 points when it should have taken only 1 point). And then for the duration of the time I spent out of my place, I was bombarded with messages from a multitude of people asking me which project I was going to select.

I got home, logged into the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE) and started reading through the list of mini projects that I could choose from, only to realise that while I knew that there was no way on Earth that I would do 2 of the projects, I couldn't bring myself to pick between the remaining 2.

The contenders?

RNA (ribonucleotides) interference; aka using short strands consisting of 21-25 ribonucleotides to block gene expression in organisms, which I might say is bloody cool. I mean we can prevent a gene from expressing (or to be more specific, prevent the protein a particular gene codes for from being made from the corresponding mRNA, or messenger RNA, by acting on the mRNA). The catch? New project, potentially sucky professor and almost close to ZERO new information on the project.

On the other side of the ring we have the zebrafish. Valued in scientific research as its body is essentially translucent/transparent (doesn't sound right), it is used to study organ development in embryos. In addition, its relatively short life span and the large number of progeny means scientist don't have to spend 70 years trying to get from parent generation (P) to progeny generation (F). The Zebrafish project is also a recurring project, extremely popular and is filled with information. The catch? It is definitely not as interesting as the RNA interference project.

I chose the Zebrafish project with the rationale that if I were to change my mind later, it'd be a lot easier trying to change into the RNAi project than into the Zebrafish project that is wildly popular. Now my lab slot is full, I can't get out of the group even if I wanted to, which means I'm stuck with Zebrafish now, GREAT.

The next time, they really should let us know what to really expect before expecting us to decide.