Health NewsMPB project at BIO 2008 – final day
As the exhibition portion of the BIO convention wraps up this morning, I felt a bit of reflection over the last few days was in order. I've had a chance to interact with a really diverse group of people from all aspects of the biotech community. Though not directly working on MPB research, the level of knowledge about the outbreaks in Colorado and the science behind our research was amazing. More than a few people commented that the discussions they had with our booth were refreshing and a good break to the networking and business aspects of their days here. The opportunity to talk to the international biotech community about our work was also a unique opportunity I was glad to have.
Besides the exhibition floor, the networking opportunities at outside events (receptions, galas, dinners) were immense. For anyone who has not attended a BIO convention before (such as myself), the real ability to interact with thousands of people is a huge benefit. I’m sure I talked with twice as many people about our research and Genome Alberta outside the trade show as within it. For me the experience here this week was hugely positive and I hope the opportunity arises to do this again.
MPB at Bio 2008 – day 2
Today, the majority of visitors to the poster were a decisively academic group. Unlike yesterday where the slide show provided the biggest draw, today’s crowd was focussed on the poster and were very interested in learning about how we are planning to study the MPB epidemic. Again, most were not involved in forestry or insect research, but did know of the MPB through the outbreaks which occur in Colorado. It is good to see our research is known at various levels by the scientific community at large, and I had numerous wishes of good luck in containing to problem. The visual nature of the MPB epidemic is something that seemed to really hit home.
Besides the numerous stem cell companies wondering how we integrated stem cell research into our current plans, I had a great discussion with a gentleman from the Dutch pavilion on the success of their Euro cup 2008 team. Just the other fun that you can have when talking about science. More to come tomorrow.
The Mountain Pine Beetle project at BIO 2008 – Exhibition day one
To begin, I need to say what an event the BIO International Convention is. This afternoon’s exhibition session started off with a bang with the formal opening of the Canada Pavilion. This was followed closely by the opening of the BioAlberta Pavilion where I had the pleasure of briefly meeting and talking with the Honourable Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. I was also pleased at the level of interest both the poster and the Genome Alberta booth received. I had numerous discussions about the project with people who work in all aspects of the biotechnology field. Interestingly, many of them were not researchers. Quite a few were drawn by the poster, but even more stopped to look at the slide show of images we displayed to reflect the project. The scanning electron microscope images were a really big draw. From all the discussions I had today, one stood out. Two gentlemen from Malaysia approached the Genome Alberta booth, drawn to the pine beetle project due a similar situation they were experiencing with an important crop plant. They were intrigued by the integrative genomics approach we were taking and felt it had direct applicability to their situation. To me this demonstrates the broad applicability of our approach and the various scenarios it can be applied too. I definitely look forward to another interesting and engaging day tomorrow. Who knows who else could drop by the booth?
Discussing the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic Project with the Honourable Doug Horner (right) at the Genome Alberta Booth at BIO 2008
Science You Can Eat
I'm at the BIO International Conference in San Diego this week and attended my first break out session today. BIO 2008 is HUGE with 20,000 plus attendees and exhibitors from 50 countries here to take in the speakers, trade show, and business development sessions. I started with "Science You Can Eat: The Rise of Functional Foods". We're surrounded by what are often referred to as functional foods even though there is no legal definition or standards associated with them. The session started off though with what seemed to
be a pretty good 'functional' definition. "Food or food components that may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition"."May" it turned out was key to the discussion.
Mountain Pine Beetle project on the road – 2008 BIO International Convention
One part of science that I absolutely enjoy is telling others about the research I am involved in. Be it through a blog site, at conferences, or just over a coffee, it gives people a glimpse of what we as scientists are doing and how we can apply the results. So when Genome Alberta asked the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) project to present at their 2008 BIO International Convention Booth, I jumped at the opportunity. What better way to reach thousands of people and raise awareness of the devastation that the MPB epidemic has caused in Canada (beetle and fungus don't forget) and show the novel approaches we are using to understand this epidemic.
Mr. Gene Goes to Washington
Now if my experience last week at a seminar called The Molecular Full Monty - Personal Genomes, Personal Health doesn't have some sort of surreal quality to it , I'm not sure what else would qualify. I was in Washington, D.C. for a workshop on Popular Representation in Science and Communication organized by Alberta bioethcist Tim Caulfield. The workshop ended in the early afternoon and I had the opportunity to attend the seminar on personal genomics at the National Press Club. The panel featured Henry Greely, Colleen McBride, Robert Green and George Church - all top ranked researchers. They gave their views and summarized some findings on personal genome testing and the organizers had left plenty of time for questions after the session. Because I've had my own testing done I had a comment and question and as per the protocol for the event started off giving my name and organization. I know what's so surreal about this ?
Random Thoughts on Mike, Spit and Uma Thurman
