Health NewsTwitter Snips - March 1, 2010
Twitter: a series of chirps or the high-pitched sound a bird makes.
A birds use its chirps, cheeps, and tweets to warn of danger, scare off predators, find a mate, protect its territory and to identify itself and its friends.
While the online microblogging tool version of Twitter is often dismissed as silly tweets more in line with canary chatter, perhaps we can learn a little from our feather friends. Tweety-bird let us all know when he saw the putty-cat and the online Twitter world lets us tell each other when know when we see things that interest us and cross all interest lines. No question you'll find your share of nonsense and the spammers have already started to move in, but such is the online world wherever you happen to click.
Genome Alberta can be found on Twitter as @mikesgene and we follow, or are followed by a wide range of people and organizations. There is I Am Biotech, one of the communication arms of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in Washington D.C, Linda Avey one of the founders of 23andMe, PrionGirl who is actually Valerie Sim prion researcher, and Christopher Dieni originally from Montreal, went to school in Ottawa, and is now a postdoc in State College, at Penn State, researching cancer biochemistry.
Not a bad pedigree for a bunch of Twits and the rest of the people we keep in touch through Twitter are no less impressive. They cover the range of interests and careers from the media, to politics, to public relations, to science and medicine.
Every 2 weeks we compile some of the 140 character posting we come across and give you a sample to take you from the lab bench to the online bench. These are just the tip of the iceberg so if you really want to see what lies underneath then sign on to http://twitter.com and follow @mikesgene
Genomics at BioHackathon 2010
guest post from Susanne Cardwell
Administrative Coordinator
Bioinformatics Platform Applied Computational Genomics Course
Paul Gordon, bioinformatics specialist with the Sun Center of Excellence for Visual Genomics, recently attended the Hackathon 2010, at the University of Tokyo. The objective of the Hackathon 2010 was to define technologies and standards for the global life sciences community for the next generation of web technologies often call the Semantic Web.
There were approximately 40-50 participants, and Paul was representing the Genome Canada Bioinformatics Platform. Several Canadians in attendance were some of the pioneers in Semantic Web Technologies for the Life Sciences.
Bio Hackathon 2010 was about creating a critical mass of data providers providing the same format of information for the purpose of standardization. Standardization allows for people to ask queries or questions that require information from multiple databases. A major aim of the meeting was to educate the developers on some of the semantic web technologies, which include RDF, Sparql, and Semantic Web Services. Paul Gordon and others enlightened the participants about these technologies, how to create queries using these technologies, and use case development.
Another major aim of the meeting was the writing of computer code. Gordon focused on making it easier to use these technologies over existing databases.
Where Bio Began – How I did my first video
There are still 2 days left to enter a short video and get a chance to win iPod Shuffle. Yes, Genome Alberta is giving away 2 iPod Shuffles and all you have to do to have a chance at winning is submit a less than 2 minute video telling Where Bio Began for you or your friends.
Here is my example.
What Canadian Biotech Can Learn from Where Bio Began
It began in early February with a Tweet pointing to wherebiobegins.com which turned out to be a site with a large countdown clock and not much more. From there we began to see more tweets, a Facebook page, a YouTube channel and eventually a blog. There were videos posted from people about how bio began and we even shared in some of the fun by holding our own mini contest. Deadline is Saturday midnight by the way so there is still time to enter. Details and rules on our home page at www.genomealberta.ca and you can win an iPOD Shuffle so it is worth your time to enter.
But no one knew who was behind the site and the catch phrase.
I was let in on the secret of the company behind the mystery early on, and today Sigma Aldrich unveiled its full Where Bio Begins website and the rest of the campaign. It appears to be a well thought out plan and on the social media side I'd call it a pretty good success in the biotech field. The United States has many examples of good social media success. Check out I Am Biotech, What Can Biotech Do for You, Comprendia's San Diego network or the Research Blogging site, or the DNA Network which we feature on our GenOmics application.
What about Canada?
PR and Journalism - Where the Twain Shall Meet
This posting is not about biotech or science communication, genomics, genetics or even about social media but every once in a while I need to step outside the intent of Mikenomics a bit. For this posting I will put my journalist's badge back on and dedicate it to journalists who are strong enough to stay in the profession or brave enough to apply their skills elsewhere.
It started while I was preparing my notes and slides to speak to a student PR group at the University of Calgary and got a note on Twitter from @jgombita pointing me to several blog postings from Craig Pearce:
Ex-journalists should not be the boss of PR
PR people should not head the PR function
Journalists for PR boss? Don’t ask; its discrimination!
These are the most recent missives in an ongoing the debate about whether journalists are qualified to hold a PR or Communications job but they are the among the more well thought out postings. As an ex-journalist now up to my neck in communication and PR, I just HAVE to respond. I also have some genetic proof that I lean towards stubborness so maybe that comes into play.
A few of the comments to Craig Pearce's postings were spot on, much like this one from Craig Badings : "it all depends on the person. There are some PR people not fit to head a PR function as there are ex journalists. Likewise if you look around there is a good mix of very able people from both backgrounds doing a great job".
What is common to Craig Pearce's original posts and many of the comments however, seems to be an over-simplification of what journalists actually do. It would appear from some of the discussion that our role as a journalist is to push information on an unsuspecting public from the cozy comfort of a desk. While a journalist starting out writing copy may have that role, so to does a shiney new PR graduate. Different push, different desk, same role.
From Soccer to Genetics
When I walked into the Heart and Crown Irish Pub in Ottawa's Byward Market area earlier this week my first thought was what had I gotten myself into. I was there to moderate a panel discussion on the "The Human Genome Project a Decade Later: Has the Promise Been Realized?"
What I was greeted with in the pub however, was a room full of soccer fans wildly cheering a game on the big screen TV. Not surprisingly it was accompanied by lots of beer and good looking food and I think if I had said I was a Manchester United fan I would have been shown the door. The only discussion about genetics this crowd was likely to entertain was going to be about how to build a bigger, better, fullback.
But I panicked too soon.
The match was almost over, the room soon cleared, Mark Weir from the University of Ottawa arrived for the set up, and the room started to fill up with gene junkies (or should that be gene gunkies? ).
The panelists also showed up and shortly after 5:30p Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy , Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics, Dr. David Castle, Canada Research Chair in Science and Society, and Professor David Secko, Journalism Professor at Concordia were seated under the lights. I was playing Phil Donahue and wandering the room with a wireless microphone so the audience could talk to the panel and asking a few questions of my own to the panel and the crowd. Close to a hundred people had sent an RSVP and I'd say that 3/4 of them were actually there. And with the exception of the couple making out in the corner everyone was listening closely and actively engaged in the discussion.
A Tale of Two Conferences
Welcome to night and day.
I'm speaking at the Federated Press Social Media and Government Conference in Ottawa. It is essentially the same topic and intent of an Advanced Learning Institute event I spoke at in Edmonton a few weeks ago. The contrast in tone however is striking. Not right or wrong , just incredibly different.
Ottawa is largely a federal town, Edmonton provincial. Alberta tends to be behind in the use of social media, Ontario may not lead the world but in general is ahead of the Canadian social media game. I posted a blog entry about the Edmonton conference at the time, which noted the tone of the Edmonton conference. It was a very proactive feeling in the room with lots of talk about open government, Government 2.0, and using online tools for democracy.
The Ottawa event has batted about phrases such as "corrective blogging", "inject,correct and direct", and even the concept of what essentially amounts to ghost postings in social media that are done under a real name - just not the person who wrote the twitter post or blog comment.
The 2 approaches are completely opposite.
Twitter Snips - February 10, 2010
Twitter may not be the online tool for everyone but it isn't a tool to be dismissed as a tool for telling the world what you just had for lunch.
Twitter was used during the last U.S. Presidential election by Barrack Obama, by surgeons in the operating room, and by police sending out public warnings and announcements.
We use Twitter at Genome Alberta under the Twitter name of @mikesgene and as Communications Director do the tweets, respond to other users, and generally manage the presence.
We try to maintain contact with relevant users including @deliciousbio a Twitter account managed by a life science development company in San Diego, @FierceBiotech is a biotechnology news digest based in Washington D.C., @humangenomeorg , the official international organization of scientists involved in human genetic and genomic research, or @crossborderbio an account for Jeremy Grushcow a Ph.D. J.D. practicing corporate law at Ogilvy Renault LLP in Toronto.
We also follow or are followed by Canadian and U.S. media, individuals in the PR profession and a variety of companies, not-for-profits, and individual researchers.
In the selection of tweets below you can click the @name to be taken to the Twitter account for that user (you don't need to be a registered Twitter user to see who they are and what they have to say) and any of the http:// links will take you to a website that the sender feels is interesting, useful, and occasionally just plain fun.
Try a few and tell us what you think by commenting here or dropping me a note at mspear@genomealberta.ca
Bio Began Here
Join Genome Alberta for a chance to win an iPod Shuffle. We have 2 Shuffles to give away if you upload a short video of yourself or your friends telling us when and where you became interested in biology.
The rules are simple:
- You must upload your video before midnight February 27th, 2010
- Your video must be less than 2 minutes in length
- You must upload the video to either the Genome Alberta YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/GenomeAlberta ) or enter through the ‘Ideas’ section of Facebook GenOmics at http://facebook.genomealberta.ca
- Only YouTube or Facebook videos will be accepted. All videos should be tagged with bio, wherebiobegins, and “genome alberta” plus whatever specific tags you feel are appropriate
- You must agree to have your video displayed on Genome Alberta’s YouTube channel and on the Genome Alberta GenOmics site on Facebook
- You must be 16 years of age or older
- The winning names will be drawn at random from all the entries uploaded. You can only win once.
- Genome Alberta reserves the right to remove any video not complying with the rules or that we consider offensive
So here is where Bio Began for at least 2 of us in the office. ( and we aren't eligible for one of the iPods so they are still up for grabs ! )
Genome Alberta at Discovery House
It wasn't a genomics event by any means but it was about green tech, the guest of honour was our former federal Minister, and it was definitel
y interesting.
This week David Bailey and I were able to attend the opening of the Discover 4 House, a net-zero home at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. It was also the announcement of a 2.4 million dollar award to SAIT from the federal government's College and Community Innovation program. SAIT is one of 9 Canadian post-secondary institutions receiving the award after a peer reviewed competition.
Genetically Engineered Olympians
Years ago, I remember seeing a parody on what to expect in future Olympic athletes. There were cartoon drawings of swimmers with webbed feet and high jumpers with gigantic legs. We all had a good chuckle over this article. Well here we are, it is 2010, and we are getting ready for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. What are we reading about in the media? Warnings about gene doping in Olympic athletes.
Where Did Bio Begin for You?
If you've come to Genome Alberta's blog pages there is a good chance you have more than a passing interest in bio.
I could be an interest in biotechnology, biology, biochemistry, biodiversity, bioinformatics, or any number of the other avenues, alleys, and side paths in the bio landscape. You may be a researcher, grad student, post doc, or involved with sales, marketing, or PR for a bio company, university, or government organization.
Wherever you fit however, you may well have had a defining moment that drew you in.
For me it was at the University of Calgary when I was taking a course in athletic injuries. We spent some time in the 'cadaver lab' observing how bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments could be damaged during athletic competition. It was an eye opening experience to say the least, and yes at times a little unnerving but definitely got my attention. Though I eventually ended up in a career as a journalist and media manager, that interest always drew me to medical stories, articles related to many of the bio fields, and to encourage stories around emerging bio fields whenever they came up in story meetings.
So when I came across a twitter account called "@wherebiobegins" my old journalist curiosity kicked in because the site turned out to be a simple countdown clock with a long list of bio-related technologies and areas of research. I started to do a little 'net sleuthing, posted a few guesses on who it might be, and now have @wherebiobegins following me on Twitter.
I also found them on Youtube posting videos from people talking about where bio began for them which gave me an idea.
Genome Albefrta is going to answer the question of where did bio begin for you with a contest. You can win one of two iPOD shuffles if you want to be part of wherebiobegins. Brand new, teeny, tiny Shuffles that will hold 4 gigs of music and talk to back to you.