Genome Alberta's Official Newsletter
Genome Alberta Newsletter GeneSnips - September 3, 2009
Genome Alberta News
Bovine Genomics Workshop
Canadian Beef Breeds Council, together with the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Livestock Genomics, and Genome Alberta are hosting the Canadian Bovine Genomics Workshop. The purpose of this workshop is to engage all stakeholders in building a shared vision for a National Bovine Genomics Strategy, and to officially launch the newly created Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Livestock Genomics.
- Date: Monday, September 4, 2009
- Time: 8:30am – 4:00pm
- Location: Delta Airport Hotel, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Beef cattle producers, researchers, product and service providers and other industry stakeholders are being invited to share information on current programs and projects underway, and provide perspective on a national focus for the future. This workshop will share the most current genomic improvement research and innovation technology that contributes to the ongoing advancements in beef production, and provide and forum for an engaged discussion on what directions and investments are required for internationally competitive Canada beef industry.
For more information please contact Genome Alberta at 403-503-5220
GenOmics News Site
If you have any doubts about the value of social media you might want to check out this YouTube video because it is a definite eye-opener for the uninitiated.
After you’ve taken in the video then you might want to check out Genome Alberta’s GenOmics News site on Facebook. You don’t have to be a registered Facebook user to read the information but you will have to register to use all the features. It is a site for genomics news and for news about some of the other related omics. It was recently featured in the I Am Biotech Newsletter who called it their favourite application of the year.
The application give you access to news, blogs, links, videos, and pictures. You can comment on stories, share news you’ve found elsewhere on the web, write your own story or blog, and earn points for prizes. And we’ve tried to keep it simple. To share stories you see elsewhere on the web all you have to do is paste in the url from the original site and in most cases, GenOmics will add automatically add a headline and story summary.
If you’d like a quick introduction to the site we have posted an overview of the application at www.genomealberta.ca/facebook or go directly to the application at facebook.genomealberta.ca .
Existing Facebook users can also search for genomics .
Forestry Genomics Strategy Paper
The Strategy Papers coming out of the March 31st, 2009 Forest Health Genomics Initiative meeting has been released to the general public.
The paper, Canadian Forest Health Genomics: Canadian Strengths Address Forestry Challenges, proposes a rationale for harnessing and directing new interdisciplinary genomics research across Canada (links to this and related background materials are appended below). Outcomes of this research would provide better understanding of and tools to help mitigate the threats facing Canada’s forests: destructive pests such as the spruce budworm, mountain pine beetle and emerald ash borer; climatic shifts; and increased global consumption of renewable resources.
You can find a copy of the paper on our website as well as a copy of the original workshop report.
World Skills 2009
Genome Alberta was invited by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology to be part of Alberta House at the Works Skills Competition being held in Calgary September 2nd – 5th at the Stampede Grounds. Nearly 100,000 people are expected to attend the event along 52,000 students coming on school trips. Thanks to the help from Christoph Sensen’s 4D team the Portable CAVE will be on display and visitors can put on 3D glasses and take a quick trip though the human body. We’ll post blog entries about the event and if you go to our Picasa photo-sharing site at http://picasaweb.google.com/
MikesGene and look for the World Skills albums you’ll see some pictures from around the Skills Village.If you’re in the Calgary area, this is an event worth attending as young people from 51 countries compete if various skills events. Of course after you see the competition be sure to drop by Alberta House and say hello.
Conferences Worth Attending
Age of Personalized Genomics
Banff, September 16 - 18, 2009
http://genomealberta.ca/APG/ (early bird registration deadline extended)Canadian Science Policy Conference
Toronto, October 28 - 30 2009
http://sciencepolicy.caSocial Media For Government Conference
Ottawa, September 29 – October 2, 2009,
http://www.aliconferences.com/conf/social_media_govt_ (Mention Genome Alberta’s Director of Communications, Mike Spear for a registration discount)canada1009/index.htm
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GE3LS Digest
Bioethicist Becomes a Lightning Rod for Criticism –
August 24, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/
Few people hold a more uncomfortable place at the health care debate’s
intersection between nuanced policy and cable-ready political rhetoric than
President Obama’s special health care adviser, Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel.
Largely quoting his past writings out of context this summer, Betsy McCaughey,
a former lieutenant governor of New York, labelled Dr. Emanuel a “deadly
doctor” who believes health care should be “reserved for the
nondisabled” — a false assertion that Representative Michele
Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, repeated on the House floor. Former Gov.
Sarah Palin of Alaska has asserted that Dr. Emanuel’s
“Orwellian” approach to health care would “refuse to allocate
medical resources to the elderly, the infirm and the disabled who have less
economic potential,” accusations similarly made by the political
provocateur Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr.
Toronto Clinic to Offer Navigenics Service – July
24, 2009
http://www.genomeweb.com//
Toronto's Medcan Clinic, a clinic that emphasizes preventive medicine, will
offer its patients Navigenics' personalized genetic testing services, Medcan
said yesterday. The clinic plans to offer the company's genetic testing
services in conjunction with in-person sessions with a genetic counsellor, the
clinic said. Medcan said its Personal Genome Testing service will look for
genetic predispositions in patients for conditions such as breast cancer,
Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes, and others. These tests will only be for
genetic risks "that are clinically actionable, allowing patients to lower
their risk through prevention strategies and more personalized screening,"
Medcan said.
How genetic information affects access to insurance
– August 21, 2009
http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/
Advancements in genetic science and technology have become important tools in
the diagnosis, cure and management of many diseases. But should there be
concerns about potential genetic discrimination in access to insurance as
genetic information becomes widely available and inexpensive and the predictive
value of genetic risks increases? Insurance contracts are contracts of utmost
good faith, requiring full disclosure of material facts pertaining to
insurability within the insured’s knowledge. Materiality depends on what
a reasonable insurer would want to know in the underwriting process. According
to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, insurers may not demand
genetic testing as a precondition for insurance.
This news digest is published by GE3LS at Genome Alberta.
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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Found on Twitter
@genomicslawyer Genome Research publishes special issue: Personal Genomes and Variation http://bit.ly/2gOJ9K (HT @OnlineBiotech)
WS_Calgary_2009 I posted 15 photos on Facebook in the album "Airport Arrivals": http://bit.ly/3CaYRl
@dgmacarthur RT @PathwayGenomics: Great article speculating whether race will matter in the era of personalized medicine. http://bit.ly/SdYze
@PathwayGenomics 75% of doctors in survey indicate that personal genetic test results had changed some aspect of their patient’s care. http://bit.ly/KQgjE
@Comprendia New Biotechnology Marketing 101 Blog Post: Is It Remarkable? http://bit.ly/DGPok
@kejames Brilliant radio programme in which @DrStuClark brings the great solar storm of 1859 to life http://bit.ly/2WsCE #solarstorm
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Genome Alberta in Pictures
This week the International Metabolome Society held its annual conference at the Crowne Plaza in Edmonton.
For more pictures from the Metabolomics Conference as well
as pictures of the team making up Genome Alberta’s Metabolomics
Project, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/
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