steak vs lobster, steak wins!

lobster vs steak - he ordered a steak. wtf. we supposed to eat lobster.
cultured meat is deemed the solution to malpractices in rearing, slaughtering and live animal exports. veganism trying to convince that cultured meat is the most humane way to consume animal without having to harm or sacrifice lives. it is a technology that deconstruct every essence that made up an animal and put them back together to make up succulent patties, identical to real, tender, juicy meat only lack of its provenance. cultured meat set up a new paradigm for agrotechnology, not only we are able to exclude ourselves from the absurdity of rearing and growing animals in confinement until they have grown fat enough for slaughtering, we also do not have to deal with their dirty droppings. this so called cellular engineering/technology is nothing against natural order any more than making tempeh or baking an orange cake. its constituent elements, amino acids, water, fat and carbohydrate are exactly the same except the mammalian cell origin. if we exclude the mammalian cells with yeast or bacteria, would it still be "meat"? eating meat has always been the object of criticism for over consumption of resources i.e. land, air, water and crops. that does not mean that we could not work out with sustainable animal husbandry and preservation of ecosystem. opting to cellular engineering only exposes our credulity and desire to keep steak on the plate in the most humane way while closing one eye on real issues regarding technology disparity, inequalities, unfair global trade and subsidies wrecking up small countries and infant industries. why food need to be made in absurdly un-economical way like cellular engineering? the process of making cultured meat leverages the existing techniques used in the animal and plant cell culture for biotechnology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. it is unnecessary and expensive, we should actually pay heed to resist the urge that this technology could save the world from environmental problems and climate change. revolutionary food technology should address issues on malnutrition and hunger. apparently 1 in every 5 children go to bed hungry every night. thousands have to skip meals just to let their loved ones to have something to eat. given enough political will and support, we could tackle all these problems with environment, social inequality climate change and hunger simultaneously. technology like cellular engineering for food should be reserved for drug development and regenerative medicine.

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animal cell engineering will be offered after the mid-term

a note about academic integrity from a concern lecturer who like an orange cake

dear students,

academic integrity is a demonstration of work conducted with honesty, integrity and responsibility in all disciplines, be it mathematics, research, language, assignments or sitting for examinations.

you are a university student at IIUM because you have demonstrated intellectual ability and skills required to perform and take part in the scholarship for knowledge advancement.

of course there will be challenges, and many of you may feel overwhelm by the amount of work you need to accomplish. some of you may be working part-time, or working with several assignments in parallel, or maybe preparing for presentation or sitting for important qualifying examinations. the distress can be surmount and unforgiving, which may leave you with breathless to cope with everything at the same time.

it is tough to multitasking and doing so many things at a time. time management and your well-being are important too. i don't want you to think that i do not care of your mental health and hygiene. yes, it is important that you do not neglect brushing your teeth before and after bed. a smile is your best defense to overcome hardship and to gain confidence.

nevertheless, there is no excuse in misconduct in academia. be it plagiarism, cheating, or facilitating academic dishonesty like allowing your friends to copy your assignments and exams.

life without challenges is boring and not an adventure. 

communication is vital for scientists, engineers and professionals to engage their works with the public. it is our goal that our students will be able to communicate effectively and display their works with the highest level of integrity and honesty.

plagiarism is an act of acquiring knowledge, ideas, data, figures and words without attribution or acknowledgement to the "original source".

specific knowledge is different than common knowledge. specific knowledge is data sets that generated by groups or individuals working on subjects. specific knowledge also refer to specific dates, numbers, and facts from specific type of studies. it is important that you give credits to the authors.

in the wake of internet neutrality (confinement to facts and information) and SOPA, it is difficult to distinguish "true" and "false" facts from the internet.

do not assume that everything you read in the world wide web is common and accepted knowledge. even wikipedia is not considered a reliable resource for academic citation. however, you can use bibliography published at the end of wikipedia page to point you to the potential sources.

do not be gullible over facts on the internet. anyone or troll can put up Quora/Reddit thread, create a Facebook page or make up a website. when the reliability of the source is not clear, look at the name of the author, sponsoring institution, date of posting and do cross-examinations on the subjects at different platforms.

academic writing is nuance and painstaking. it is like baking an orange cake based on someone else's recipe but create something original out from it.

all in all, you have to use your own words to paraphrase accurately and in original way.

if i want to quote Oscar Wilde, no one is indeed original. we are abstract from something else we acquire throughout our daily lives.

in any way, we expecting the students to understand the highest academic standard of the Institute. we may come from different background and culture on academic integrity which may not clearly defined or enforced.

it is fundamental to the Institute that you display your choices that reflect IIUM integrity and behavior.

this lecture will be given in the october, therefore, please get familiarize with academic integrity and citations.

ignorance is never an excuse. please don't give me the quote from The Matrix. i will definitely John Wick you.

thank you.

what if all we need is to pause, ponder and reflect