Genome Alberta's Official Newsletter
Genome Alberta Newsletter GenOmics - August 3, 2010
- August 3, 2010 -
In this Update:
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Genomics News
Digital Art for Biotechnology Week
Canada’s Genome Centres are partnering with BIOTECanada and many provincial bio associations to mark Biotechnology Week in Canada in September. Here at Genome Alberta we’ll be working with BioAlberta to plan a couple of events in Calgary and Edmonton but we’re also going to get a head start on the activities with a new digital art contest. We ran a successful contest in 2008 and we’re going to do it again with a new theme and new prizes.
We’re challenging artists with an interest in science, or researchers with an interest in art, to turn their creative talent to the interaction between biotechnology and the societal, ethical, and public policy world we live in. How can we best put biotechnology to work? Are regulations keeping up with the science? What exactly is biotechnology? Our 2008 entries came from across Canada and around the world and we hope to attract the same range of entries. Check our first blog post on the contest for more details and to see a slide show of past entries.
Come up with an original work of digital art and you could win cash prizes for first, second, and third place, your work will be displayed online and there is a chance your entry will become part of Genome Alberta’s print material as well.
Reminder of 2010 Genome Canada Competition Deadline
August 9th is the deadline date for the submission of pre-application material to Genome Alberta.
If you have an general questions on the process please call our office at 403 503 5220. For specific technical questions please send an email to Genome Alberta’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Gijs van Rooijen vanrooijen@genomealberta.ca
Research Associate Position
A Research Associate position is available in the area of tree cell wall biochemistry and molecular biology in the Wood and Fibre Quality Lab directed by Dr. Shawn Mansfield in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and extensive postdoctoral research experience in tree biochemistry, molecular biology, transcript profiling and functional genomics – all skills are required for successful placement.
The position is supported by an applied genomics project of Genome British Columbia.
For more information on the position and application information please go to the University of British Columbia Forestry Department website.
Canadian Bioinformatics Help Desk Newsletter
Latest edition available at http://gchelpdesk.ualberta.ca/
news/17jul10/cbhd_news_ 17jul10.htm
International Livestock Congress
Don’t forget the International Livestock Congress Beef 2010: Raising Optimism. Global Strategies, on Wednesday August 11, 2010
There is still time to register so go to http://www.ilccalgary.com/ for more information.
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GenOmics Top Stories
GenOmics has the potential to replace many of your daily or weekly life science news digest you get in your Inbox, or many of the site or RSS feeds you check on a regular basis. Genome Alberta’s Communications Director Mike Spear presented the application as a case study at a Government and Social Media Conference in Washington D.C. in July, and he’ll be showing it off again in the September in Ottawa and Chicago. He has also been invited to the U.S. National Association of Science Writers Annual Meeting and Conference in November to talk about online science communications like GenOmics.
You’ll find news, videos, blogs, and media releases by going to http://facebook.genomealberta.
Infectious prions can arise spontaneously in normal brain tissue, study shows
European Court Issues Gene Patent Ruling Against Monsanto—A Myriad Connection? 
Science 2.0 Change Will Happen - The Race to Make Fuel Out of Algae Poses Risks as Well as Benefits
- Personal genomics links
- Spiegel Interview with Craig Venter: 'We Have Learned Nothing from the Genome'
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Found on Twitter
You’d be surprised at what can be said in 140 characters and what we stumble across from the people and organization we track using Twitter. The big science event in the online world over the last couple of weeks was the Open Science Summit held in Berkeley, California. Many of the posts mentioned here and in our latest Twitter Snips blog post are are connected to the OSS.
Feel free to click on any of the urls listed here. They’re safe and they’ll take you to a corner of the internet you may never have found otherwise.
@andrewhessel July 29-31, Open Science Summit at Berkeley. Great lineup, super interesting. See you there! http://bit.ly/9G2jua
@Duncande At the Open Science Summit at Berkeley @openscience2010 how open should science be? http://tinyurl.com/29gwhcz
@edyong209 On the Origin of Science Writers: read tales from world-class writers about how they started & tips for newbies http://bit.ly/sciwriters
@fermarsan PHG Foundation | New Australian guidelines on biobanks and genetic databases: http://bit.ly/dsjjvb via @addthis
@GenomeScience "Our success as Americans will bhttps://na3.marqui.com/genomealberta/sm/smPage.aspx?i=1134e in how we can address health issues worldwide..." #OMalley press conf
@SciTechMuseum Top Ten Reasons Why the Canada Science and Technology Museum is One of the Coolest Family Venues this Summer http://bit.ly/azyH4u
@shwu FundScience supports young researchers w untested ideas because NIH won't. Microfinancing - accountable, public, communicative. #oss2010
@UofC_Science Gender-bending fish: U of C researchers say cocktail of chemicals skew sex ratios in river populations http://tinyurl.com/2cuka5r
And who are these busy tweeters?
- @andrewhessel describes himself as Building DIYbiotech Founding Director, CEO at Pink Army Cooperative. Co-Chair, Bioinformatics and Biotechnology at Singularity University
- @Duncande David Ewing Duncan is a journalist, broadcaster, Director of the Center for Life Science Policy, UC Berkeley and author. His latest book is the Experimental Man www.experimentalman.com
- @edyong209 Ed Yong is science writer & blogger @ Not Exactly Rocket Science and freelance journalist living in London, England
- @Fernando Martin is based in Madrid Spain. He is a Researcher and Professor in Biomedical Informatics, not to mention a Marathon runner, acoustic guitar player, and a skeptic
- @GenomeScience is a non-profit Genome Research Institute located in the BioPark complex on the University of Maryland Baltimore campus. http://www.igs.umaryland.edu/
- @SciTechMuseum CSTM SciTech Museum is located in Ottawa, Ontario. Find out more at http://www.sciencetech.
technomuses.ca/english/index. cfm - @shwu Shirley Wu lives in San Francisco and says she is interested in opening up science in more ways and to more people. Love Ultimate Frisbee, cooking, reading, nature, and music.
- @UofC_Science belongs to University of Calgary Faculty of Science online at http://www.science.ucalgary.
ca/
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GE3LS Digest
There will be no GE3LS Digest this week but they’ll be back for the August 15th edition. In the meantime here’s a few links from the last Digest.
'He says/she says' just doesn't work for science – June 29, 2010
Ten years after the last polarised debate about GM, the coverage of two high-profile resignations from a committee of the Food Standards Agency set up to run a new national dialogue on the issue suggests we may be in for an unedifying re-run. Producers on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours and BBC1's Breakfast contacted the Science Media Centre looking for 'pro' and 'anti' GM guests. And when the science editor on Radio 4's Today went to Norwich to cover the announcement of a rare field trial of GM potatoes, producers rushed to book an anti-GM campaigner to 'balance' the package. The resulting item gave more time to a Friends of the Earth spokesperson than the scientist describing the new work. If I was to single out one main complaint about the media from the scientific community it would be that journalists tend to be too 'balanced' - in other words, they try to give roughly equal time to opposing viewpoints even when the weight of evidence lies strongly on one side. Like 'objectivity', the concept of 'balance' is one of journalism's fundamental rules. Some suggest it is rooted in our system of parliamentary democracy and adversarial politics and works well for politics - giving equal treatment to the main political parties.
Europe’s New Approach to Biotech Food – July 7, 2010
After decades of pushing nations to surrender more power to Brussels, the European Union is about to throw in the towel on one highly contentious issue: genetically modified foods. On Tuesday, the European Commission will formally propose giving back to national and local governments the freedom to decide whether to grow crops that many Europeans still call Frankenfoods. The new policy is aimed at overcoming a stalemate that has severely curtailed the market for biotech seeds in Europe for years. Only two crops, produced by Monsanto and B.A.S.F., are sold for cultivation here. The new flexibility is supposed to open up markets in countries like the Netherlands, where governments are broadly favorable toward growing and trading biotech products, while countries like Austria, where the products are unpopular, can maintain a ban. But far from celebrating, the growing global industry, as well as some farmers themselves, is extremely wary of the new approach.
The new wave of companies offering genome scans direct-to-consumer (DTC) has prompted commentary from scientists, clinicians, bioethicists and those interested in the ethical, legal and social issues arising from genomics. It has thus brought a far wider range of actors into a longstanding debate about the regulation of genetic tests. However, some of the recent discussion is characterised by misunderstanding of the regulatory landscape, a failure to grasp the lessons of the past and lack of clarity of thought. In this commentary I challenge a series of myths and misconceptions which plague current academic and policy discussion: the conflation of regulation and proscription; the failure to recognise that DTC companies are gatekeepers; the assumption that requiring a medical intermediary for testing is paternalistic; the belief that online services cannot be regulated; the presumption that we must avoid genetic exceptionalism; the idea that policy is lagging behind science or that it is too soon to act; and finally, the view that DTC genetics is a reality we have to adapt to.
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Events
--------------------------------------------------------------------Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference: Bridging Biology & Business
Scientific and industry leaders from around the world will address Agricultural Biotechnology and its impact on world agriculture from meeting the growing demand for food & feed production to the development of sustainable biofuels. The full program is available at http://www.abic.ca/abic2010/
html/program.html There are special registration rates available for students, government, non-profits, academia, and startup companies.
Genome Prairie, Genome B.C. and Genome Alberta are sponsoring the opening reception on Sunday, September 12th at 6:00p and we look forward to seeing you there.
Pacific rim Summit Call for Papers, Panels, and Posters Extended
The new deadline for papers and panels is August 15 and September 24th for posters.
For further information on how to submit an abstract, please visit bio.org/pacrim
Alberta Initiative for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology
The leadership team of Alberta Initiative for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology (AiiMiT) invite to you to participate in the inaugural clinical problem-solving forum. The role of this forum is to present an existing clinical challenge to a group of open-minded problem solvers who will then be asked to brainstorm potential solutions.
If you are a creative thinker who can help identify innovations to address existing clinical challenges, we are looking forward to having your perspective, experience and insights at the table.
This is an exciting opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a project with considerable future potential.
When: Wednesday, August 25th
4:00-6:00 pm (refreshments served)Where: TELUS building, University of Alberta, Room 217
For more information you can view the complete invitation online or contact Shawn Drefs at sdrefs@ualberta.ca
When: September 5th – 8th
Where: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Sessions will explore the scope of international research in the areas of:
- genetic diversity
- seed quality traits
- breeding and trait genetics
- comparative and functional genomics
- environmental stress
- alternative products
- impact of transgenic technologies
We hope to see the genome sequence of Brassica rapa released in 2010, so the special session on Brassica genome sequencing which will highlight the status of International efforts to sequence and analyse the genomes of Brassica and related species will be of special interest to researchers.
For more information visit the conference website at: http://www.brassica2010.ca/
6th International Congress of Pathophysiology
Under the shared banners of "Gene-environment interaction in health and disease" and "Ecogenomic models of cardiometabolic diseases", the three primary themes of the Congress are:
- Pathophysiological pathways of health and diseases
- Novel pathophysiological approaches and tools
- Novel therapeutic/diagnostic pathophysiological targets
When: September 22 - 25
Where: Palais des Congrès/Montréal Convention Centre, Canada
There will be plenary sessions, workshops, symposia, and poster sessions. You can see the full program at http://ispmontreal2010.com/
program_glance.html
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