Genome Alberta's Official Newsletter

Genome Alberta Newsletter GeneSnips - April 2, 2009

Genome Alberta News

Changes Proposed for Alberta's Research and Innovation System

The province has tabled money Bill 27 (otherwise known as the Alberta Research and Innovation Act) that seeks to better align the province’s research and innovation system. Assuming the legislation passes, multiple agencies will be merged into four entities covering health, bio-industries, energy and the environment, and bringing technology to market.

The research organizations covered under the current legislation and therefore that will be the most affected are:

• The Alberta Science and Research Authority
• AET’s five research institutes: Energy, Life Sciences, Agriculture, Forestry, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Science and Engineering Research (operating as Alberta Ingenuity)
• The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR)
• The Alberta Research Council Inc. (a provincial corporation owned by the Crown)
• iCORE Inc. (a provincial corporation owned by the Crown)

While Genome Alberta is not specifically mentioned we will be seeing some changes to the landscape around us and possibly to the way we do business. The consultation process is an ongoing one and Genome Alberta CEO David Bailey has been heavily involved in the process as has Genome Board member Ron Dyck, an Assistant Deputy Minister in Alberta Advanced Education and Technology. For the moment it is pretty much business as usual and as the details are developed and announced we will pass them on.

You can find the Alberta government’s press release on their website or download a .pdf of the complete bill from  http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=bills_status&selectbill=027

Bovine Genomics Program

The 2^nd Annual Meeting of Alberta’s Bovine Genomics Program will take place in Edmonton April 28-30^th  at the University of Alberta Telus Centre for Professional Development. Topics will cover product quality, animal health and food safety and updates on animal genomics research. Speakers currently include:

• Ted Bilyea from the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency Board
• Lloyd Thomson, University of New England, Armidale
• Jacques Chenier, The Semex Alliance
• Timothy Caulfield, University of Alberta, Health Law Institute

 Registration is now open for the conference and for more information go to www.albertabovinegenomicsagm.com

 

Twittering About Science

You can hardly open a newspaper or magazine these days without reading something about Twitter and a quick scan of many web pages shows front page links to Twitter, Facebook, and of course the now common blogs. What exactly is Twitter? Consider it a free and very large community bulletin board. Users have 140 characters to make a point, respond, post information, or share links.  You can follow as many or as few of these ‘tweets’ as you want.  The information can range from the somewhat mundane postings about what people are having for lunch to the more detailed on a variety of subjects – including many aspects of science.

The U.S. Joint Genomics Institute is on Twitter, Genome Web puts updates onto a Twitter feed, the BioPerl Project ‘tweets’ regularly,  the D.C. based Genetic Alliance has many social media tools including Twitter, and many science journalists find Twitter a good source for story ideas and contacts. Even the New York Times health and science sections use Twitter.

And so does Genome Alberta.

You can find us on Twitter as mikesgene where we post a wide range of information and we are followed by journalists, politicians, scientists, and PR experts. We in turn track a variety of science ‘twits’ (yes the terms can make you giggle a bit), several Canadian politicians on Twitter, journalists, and a selection of social media experts.

And as always you can look for Genome Alberta on Facebook or use the Genomics application to give a virtual gene to your friends on Facebook. We now have 24 genes available for you to use.

TRIA Project at college of Alberta Professional  Forest Technologists

Matt Bryman, Project Manager for Genome Alberta’s Mountain Pine Beetle Project (aka TRIA ) will be leading a technical session at the APFT’s Annual meeting on April 16^th.

The mountain pine beetle has destroyed approximately 14 million hectares of pine forest in western Canada and involves interactions between at least three organisms-  the MPB, the associated tree-killing fungi, and of course the pine tree itself. Having recently crossed the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia into Alberta, there is a risk of continued MPB spread through the boreal forest. Matt’s presentation will explore how the Tria Project is using genomics as a key component in a multi-disciplinary approach to examine these mechanisms and the potential for continued MPB spread across Alberta.

For more information on the meeting go to http://www.forestechs.ab.ca/upcoming.cfm

Award for Imagining Science

The Imagining Science book developed in part by Genome Alberta’s GE3LS project has been officially awarded a 2009 New York Book Show prize. The book of essays and artwork was part of the Imagining Science Exhibit which was on display for October 2008 to February 2009 at the Alberta Gallery of Art. The award was for  'Best’ in the Scholarly/Reference Category

IMAGINING SCIENCE: ART, SCIENCE, AND SOCIAL CHANGE was edited by Sean Caulfield and Timothy Caulfield and is published by the University of Alberta Press. Book design by Alan Brownoff.  

Congratulations to everyone associated with the book.

New CFO for Genome Alberta

We are pleased to announced that Bill MacKenzie has agreed to serve as Chief Financial Officer for Genome Alberta on a part time basis. Bill is President of MacKenco and has been involved with all facets of senior financial management in a variety of fields including Communications, Bio-Technology, Pipelines, Exploration and Development, eBusiness, and the Non-Profit sectors.

Prevention Magazine

Genome Alberta’s Communication Director Mike Spear was quoted in the April issue of Prevention magazine in a piece on consumer DNA testing. You can find the article at http://tinyurl.com/dd9zln and download a copy of his 23andME or deCODE test results by going to our home page of genomealberta.ca and looking for the Personal Genotyping link.

Age of Personalized Genomics.

The final agenda and speakers are now available at the 5^th International DNA Sampling Conference website. Head for www.genomealberta.ca/APG for all the details.

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GE³LS Digest

OGI Welcomes Government of Ontario’s Investment in Genomics – March 27, 2009
http://www.genomecanada.ca/en/about/news.aspx?i=329
In its budget for 2009, announced yesterday, the Government of Ontario both reinforced the key role of genomics research in its Innovation Agenda and provided new funding allocations for genomics research operations and infrastructure in Ontario, including:

• $5 million investment in the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) in support of its role as ‘an important partner in fostering genomics research in Ontario;’
• $100 million for research operations, to be administered through the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) Ontario Research Fund (ORF), for ‘research performed in the biomedical field, focusing on genomics and gene-related research;’ and
• $300 million for research infrastructure, also to be administered through the ORF, inclusive of but not limited to life sciences (including genomics).

Abandoning Bio-Ethics Will Damage New Zealand – March 13, 2009
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0903/S00148.htm
New Zealand's world-wide reputation will be undermined if the government proceeds with its plan to terminate the Bio-Ethics Council and seeks to loosen legislated safeguards around the use of biotechnology. "It is alarming to see the shutting down of public participation and the right for people to express their views on moral and ethical issues around highly contentious matters that affect their lives and those of future generations," says Claire Bleakley from GE Free NZ in food and environment.

India protects traditional medicines from patents – March 3, 2009
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/india-protects-traditional-medicines-from-patents.html
To prevent foreign companies from patenting indigenous medicine, the Indian government has made 200,000 traditional medicines "public property" — available for anyone to use but no one to sell as a brand. Indian authorities have become concerned about the growing practice of foreign companies patenting medicinal plants and other components of traditional medicine systems. Five thousand patents for traditional medicines have been issued in global trademark offices, 2,000 of which belong to the Indian ayurveda, unani and siddha systems of medicine.

To view past issues of the GE³LS Digest or to subscribe to the Digest please go to:
http://genomealberta.ca/ge3ls/newsletters.aspx

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Genome Alberta in Pictures

This is the cover of the Imagining Science book which won at the New York Book Show last week. For more pictures from the Imagining Science exhibit go to our Picasa picture sharing site at http://picasaweb.google.com/MikesGene/

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