Genomics Blog

The Duke Institute for Genomics Science and Policy appears to be strong user of Twitter and put this out to the Twitter community earlier this week:

 @DukeIGSP "How can you not tweet a headline this? Tweet: Scientists decode songbird's genome. http://bit.ly/dsrkdA"

Seriously - how could you not post such a headline because when you click on the link that is exactly what you'll find at the top of a story about a team of  scientists, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that has decoded the genome of a songbird. The Australian Zebra Finch to be exact.
While it is a clever story headline and a subsequent twitter posting, it is about a legitimate scientific event, that with the help of social media got people reading about the achievement. In many cases people well outside the science community heard about it and many science writers and journalists got wind of a story they might not come across otherwise.

Also big news among the science tweets and twits this week was the Myriad Patent case where the judge ruled 7 of the patents are invalid. Twitter's science and legal community posted within minutes of the decision coming down and over several days there were links to news stories and blog postings. The postings came from corporate accounts, scientists, science writers, academics and lawyers. If you ever wondered about the power of online media tools in the world of biotech or research you might want to take note of this. Conspicuous by their absence was Myriad itself while pundits, professors, post graduates, and professionals voiced their thoughts, opinions and predictions. We've included some of the twitter bits in this edition of Twitter Snips but in particular you should visit the web site for @genomicslawyer at http://www.genomicslawreport.com/  We have compiled many of the story links (not the Twitter postings ) on our GenOmics application at http://facebook.genomealberta.ca  Apart from the featured stories on the ruling click on the News tab and you'll get a broad selection of news stories, blogs, videos, and images related to the ruling.

It isn't always easy to explain genetics and genomics to a non-scientist ( like me ) and Genetics for Dummies is a good start,  but a particularly exciting read. I remember when I was working at Olds Agricultural College trying to learn about simple and recessive genes in the horse world and still have the occasional scary moment trying to remember the science behind breeding a cremello coloured (cream genes with a red or chestnut to produce cremello) horse.

However with powerful new graphics, animation, and video tools available plus the incredible sharing potential of the web, that learning process can become a lot easier.
For example, genomicseducation.ca: Exploring the gene scene is run by Genome British Columbia, one of the other members of the Genome Canada 'family. As the site itself points out "genetics and genomics can be fascinating but has a reputation for being difficult and/or boring. Plus, the field is always changing."  I think they have found some good ways around that.

The site has put together some nice tools for activities, a glossary, and education resources broken down by grades.  
What are really great though, are 5 new presentations uploaded in the last week or so.
I have  embedded them all on this blog posting so you can watch them in sequence easily, and as with all embeded videos you can click on a video to go to the YouTube channel for genomicseducation where there are other presentations worth checking out.
I still shudder remembering my horse colour genetic chart but tools like this would have made life a lot easier.
Enjoy the series.

We are still waiting for the day that genetics or genomics becomes a major trending on Twitter but the past couple of weeks definitely showed the International science community is using the online tool and that genetics and personalized medicine have a niche worth holding on to.
Actress Glenn Close had her genome sequenced and it was immediately fodder for 140 character comments from fans, the media and the science community. With such a braod range of people posting the comments covered the gamut as well but it does show just what can happen and how you can create buzz that surpasses the significance of the story.  @dgmacarthur commented on the story in his Genetic Future post: "Celebrity genomics without the Y chromosome: Glenn Close has her genome sequenced: Zoe McDou... http://bit.ly/bF3DrJ  "

The Genomics Environments and Traits Conference also knows as GETS also made the round on Twitter. It is taking place in April and 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey made this Twitter post about the event:  " Darn, can't make it to Boston for this, http://www.getconference.org/ . One of a kind meeting of sequenced homo sapiens. Lilly is jealous!"

We tweeted part of our Epigenetics workshop and drew comments from all over the world including this one: "@chrisadieni @mikesgene It was thanks to @WhereBioBegins that I learned #epigenetics is where protein phosphorylation meets genomics. Anyone there agree?"

So all that talk you heard about Twitter being a place where people share information about what they had for breakfast? We're here to tell you that there is far more to it than that. Read more to see more from the tweeter set.