Genome Alberta's Official Newsletter

Genome Alberta Newsletter GeneSnips - October 5, 2009

Genome Alberta News

New Board Chair for Genome Alberta
Art Froelich’s term as Chairman of Genome Alberta’s Board of Directors has ended and though he will remain on the Genome Alberta Board Dennis Fitzpatrick will assume the Chairman’s role. Dennis has been with Genome Alberta since the beginning and was the initial CEO for Genome Prairie and has served continuously on our Board since then. He has served 2 terms as Vice President of Research at the University of Lethbridge. He is currently a professor at the University of Lethbridge and is working on plans for a new Epigenetics Centre.

Calgary Youth Science Fair
Genome Alberta is once again supporting the science fairs in Alberta by providing meeting space for the Calgary committee as well as sponsoring prizes and plaques for regional science fairs around the province. You can check out the Calgary Youth Science Fair pages at http://www.cysf.org  or the Edmonton regional pages at http://www.ersf.ca/

Planning is starting right now for the various events and if you would like information on how Genome Alberta can help in your region please contact Mike Spear at mspear@genomealberta.ca

Looking for the next Iron Science Teacher
Think you have what it takes to be declared a top science teacher? Maybe you know a teacher destined for greatness in the science field? The deadline to enter to show what can be done with science teaching is December 21, 2009. Regional playoffs will be held in January and finalists will compete for the national Iron Science title in front of a live audience at the University of Calgary on March 12, 2010

Iron Science, is a take-off on the Iron Chef TV series and is meant to showcase innovation and creativity in science teaching. Last year Iron Science contestants crushed cans (using more than simple brute force of course) , blasted pop bottles through the air and blew puffs of fog from a dry-ice machine.

For entry information, please visit www.ironscience.ca

Latest Edition of Canadian Bioinformatics Help Desk Newsletter
http://gchelpdesk.ualberta.ca/news/30sep09/cbhd_news_30sep09.htm

Canadian Researchers Invited To Apply for Genetic Disease Research Grant
The Canadian Gene Cure Foundation (CGCF) is pleased to announce a new request for applications for grants available that support novel treatment and therapeutic approaches for genetic diseases, especially rare or ultra-rare diseases affecting children.
The Foundation will award one grant to a maximum of $65,000. Lesser grants will be considered as this may allow for more than one grant to be awarded. This award is open to all researchers. The application deadline is November 13th, 2009. Application details can be found by visiting the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation's website or download the application directly at http://genecure.ca/en/docs/request-for-application_2009.pdf or http://www.genecure.ca/fr/docs/appel-de-demandes_2009.pdf.

BioIndustry in Alberta: State of the Industry 2009
A joint study joint survey from BioAlberta and Deloitte was released on September and there is a hint of good news for the biotech sector of the Alberta economy. The survey of more than 120 life science companies was conducted in the spring of 2009 and provides a review of the state of this industry in the province, examining revenue growth, research and development, human resources, and sources of funding and capital.

The results suggest that Alberta’s life science sector is going to still face challenges in the next year but has weathered the global financial and credit crisis relatively well.

You can see the full report on BioAlberta’s web site.

GenOmics
At a recent workshop and conference on Social Media and Government held in Ottawa, Genome Alberta’s Communication’s Director did a presentation on how the organization is using social media and in particular how the development of the new GenOmics application on Facebook came about.

The presentation went well and the application was well received for its interface and design.

You don’t have to be a registered Facebook user to use the new site so why not check it out. You can access it directly at http://facebook.genomealberta.ca or if you want a quick overview of the application go to www.genomealberta.ca/facebook for more information and tips on using the site.

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GE³LS Digest

Getting Personal with DNA: From Genome to Me-Ome – September 2009
http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2009/09/pdf/msoc1-0909.pdf 
When Jen S. McCabe got her direct-to-consumer (DTC) test results from 23andMe she posted a video of herself on Posterous.com as she went over the results. The video blog entry ended with this statement: “Personal health action item 1: Ask doctor at appointment Friday about celiac’s disease variant.” Like many other consumers of these new DTC genomic analysis services, Jen had taken our new knowledge of the human genome and made it her own; in Jen’s case, bringing others along for the ride by using Twitter to talk about her “me-ome.” Jen is not alone. The proverbial “gene-ie” of personal genomics is out of the bottle and no amount of regulation is going to stuff it back in; it may well be the job of researchers and the health care community to play catch-up.

Britain donating millions to biotech (but not in Britain) – September 9, 2009
http://othellooutlook.com/?p=4607
Britain has pledged more than US$150 million over the next five years to support high-tech food crops for the world’s poorest countries — primarily through genetic engineering. The irony? Britain does not yet allow any biotech foods to be grown commercially within its borders … not even to develop a genetically modified potato that is resistant to the new strain of potato blight that is ravaging British potato fields.  If the eco-activists hadn’t pledged to rip out test plantings, the world would already have blight-resistant potatoes — a huge step forward in Third World food security. Potatoes produce more food per acre than any other crop and they are increasingly important in such crowded places as China, India and the African highlands.

UK Genetics Group Issues 'Principles' for DTC Testing – September 9, 2009
http://www.genomeweb.com/dxpgx/uk-genetics-group-issues-principles-dtc-testing
The UK's Human Genetics Commission on Tuesday issued a set of principles for direct-to-consumer genetic testing that were drafted to provide guidance for consumers and to "promote high standards and consistency" among companies offering these tests. DTC genetic testing "has increased dramatically over the last 10 years" and needs internationally accepted guidelines, HGC said.  The HGC principles center on the information and counseling consumers are provided before and after taking tests and on privacy considerations. They apply to all aspects of the industry, including marketing and advertising, consumer consent, lab analysis, and support for consumers. "Some tests can cause considerable surprise or concern to those taking them – or give false reassurance," said HGC Commissioner Frances Flinter, in a statement accompanying the consultation paper. "Some, to say the least, are of doubtful value. We need a set of principles that can be adopted within existing legal frameworks in different countries."

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Found on Twitter

We’ve decided to blow our own horn on ‘found on Twitter’ this week by offering some of the comments that came up during the discussion of the GenOmics application that took place at the ALI conference on Social Media and Government held in Ottawa September 28 – October 2^nd.

@RobCottingham RT @mikesgene: Presented new GenOmics news aggregator site today. http://tinyurl.com/yb9kave  #genomics

@citymark excellent multi-channel approach to marketing GenOmics on facebook by @mikesgene #ALI don't put all yr eggs in one basket

@misterscience Very impressive and forward-looking FB app from Genome Alberta http://apps.facebook.com/ge... @mikesgene #ali

@MarieMould Thinking "outside of the box" is really what @mikesgene presents today at #ali. I love it.

@lesliemeerburg @mikesgene brings an entirely new dimension to the idea of online sharing through posting his genome #ali

@misterscience Genome Alberta preseantation @mikesgene #ali

@thornley  @mikesgene reminds us that many still don't have broadband access. He keeps this in mind in developing Genome Alberta's social media

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Genome Alberta in Pictures

Stephen Scherer (left) and Jim Evans (right) talk to attendees after their panel presentation at the Age of Personalized Genomics Conference in Banff, Alberta in mid September.

You can find more pictures from the event at http://picasaweb.google.com/MikesGene/AgeOfPersonalizedGenomicsConference#

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