Genome Canada
Blogs

About Us Research Communications ge3ls Connect livestock

Genome Alberta GeneSnips Newsletter - Winter 2008

In this Issue:

• Genome Alberta News
• GE3LS Digest
• Gene of the Month
• Genome Alberta in Pictures

.Genome Alberta News

• Funding News
  On Tuesday February 26,  the federal government tabled its 2008-09 budget. Genome Canada (GC) will receive $140M of the $440M budget (or 33%). Their support is likely for the 2 theme areas that made it through the external review process, international project development, and core funding for GC and the 6 regional centres. We won't know the specific breakdown for several weeks. This of course all assumes the budget will pass without amendment to the areas that most concern us, or before an election is called.
  
  While on the subject of funding, the BC government brought down its new budget last week, and Genome BC will receive $50M in new program funding. Any provincial budget announcement affecting Genome Alberta will not occur until well after the election next week, the swearing in of a new cabinet, and the discussions necessary for a new budget to be brought down.

• Geee! in Genome is Coming....Soon!
  Alberta has scored a bit of a national coup. The Canadian Museum of Nature has updated and refurbished the Geee! in Genome exhibit and the 2500 sq ft, 3 million dollar interactive display will have its national launch at the Telus World of Science in Edmonton on March 19th . After a 3 month stay in Edmonton it will move on to the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery until Labour Day. A sudden change in plans down East moved Alberta up as the place to launch the cross country tour and Genome Alberta is working closely with the Telus Science Centre, Genome Canada, and the Museum of Nature to make the launch a special occasion. We also see this as an excellent opportunity to foster ongoing relationships that will outlast the exhibits' stay in the province.
  You can visit the website for Geee! In Genome at http://nature.ca/genome/index_e.cfm
  
  
• Calling All Artistic Scientists...and Scientific Artists
  Is there an artist with a scientific bent in your life?Or maybe you know a scientist who sees the art lurking in their work?
  If so then help us spread the word about the Genetics Digital Art contest being sponsored by Genome Alberta in support of the 2008 International GE3LS Symposium being held in Calgary April 28th-30th. The contest is for digital artists who want to create a work based around the GE3LS theme of how society is coping with the burgeoning science of genomics and 21st century biology. The art can explore ethical, environmental, legal and societal issues and are eligible for cash prizes. For more details on the contest and how to enter go to www.genomealberta.ca/contestrules.aspx. 
  Once the contest is open to entries, the works will be displayed online and we’re asking the general public to vote for the one that does the best job of addressing the theme.
  
  
• A January Launch for the Mountain Pine Beetle Project
  This joint Genome Alberta-Genome B.C. effort will look at the relationship between the Mountain Pine Beetle, the blue-stain fungus it carries, and of course the pine tree itself. In British Columbia 13 million hectares has already been devastated by the infestation – the largest ever in Canada - and in Alberta well over 1.5 million trees have also been damaged so the project is definitely a timely one. The initial two-year project with a value of $4 million, is being funded equally by Genome British Columbia and Genome Alberta, and is being led in Alberta by project co-leader Dr. Janice Cook at the University of Alberta, with the help of Genome Alberta’s project manager Matt Bryman. There was a great deal of media interest in our announcement that eventually led to an article in the February 4th edition of Maclean’s magazine.
  

.GE3LS Digest

This is a sample from the GE3LS Digest put out on a regular basis by Genome Alberta’s GE3LS team. If you’d like to receive the full digest, click here

• Stem Cell Breakthrough, Sort Of – January 18, 2008
  http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/debunking/index.html
  In a study published  in the journal Stem Cells, scientists made embryonic clones of two men. Not to be a cynical, but what's the big deal? The procedure, in which researchers from stem cell company Stemagen removed nuclei from the skin cells of two adult men and put them inside a fertilized and emptied-out egg, is already known to scientists and the public. It's the first step of cloning -- either therapeutic cloning, in which embryos provide stem cells for potential medical use, or reproductive cloning, in which embryos grow into a new person.
  
  
• Cloning animals for food not ethical, says EU body – January 18, 2008
  http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=82647-ege-efsa-cloning-ethics
  Using cloned animals for production of food such as meat and milk is not justified, say experts on ethics reporting to the European Commission. Just days after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded in a draft opinion that such foods were unlikely to pose any risk to human health, the European Group on Ethics (EGE) said that it did not see "convincing arguments to justify the production of food from clones and their offspring". "Considering the current level of suffering and health problems of surrogate dams and animal clones, the EGE has doubts as to whether cloning animals for food supply is ethically justified," it reported yesterday. The European Commission began a consultation with experts on cloning in February 2007, following the announcement by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it could authorise food products derived from cloned cattle, pigs and goats on the market.
  
  
• Plant DNA 'barcode' boosts biodiversity research – February 6, 2008
  http://www.scidev.net/content/news/eng/plant-dna-barcode-boosts-biodiversity-research.cfm
  Researchers have found a section of plant DNA that could be used as the universal 'barcode' to identify flowering plants, aiding biodiversity research. They also hope it can be used to track endangered plant species and check whether they are being transported illegally. The research team, led by Vincent Savolainen of the UK's Imperial College London and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, published their findings this week (4 February) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. While DNA barcoding — the use of a particular region of DNA to distinguish between species — is already established in animals, no single, universal section of DNA has yet been found for flowering plants. Various DNA segments have been mooted. Savolainen and colleagues tested eight of these segments on over 1,600 plant specimens, mainly orchids from Costa Rica and other plants from the Kruger National Park in South Africa — sites chosen for their exceptional biodiversity. They found that a specific section of a gene, matK, was easy to use and had a suitable 'barcoding gap' — it is different enough between species and similar enough within species to make identifications.
  
  

.Gene of the Month

Every month we’ll bring you a short description of a gene. And thanks to the A1 mutation we’ll keep doing it every month……

If At First You Don’t Succeed – Blame it on your Genes
Being stubborn simply means that even though something doesn’t appear to be working, we persist in trying it again. The A1 mutation decreases the number of D2 receptors in your brain. This in turn decreases the level of dopamine, a neurotransmitter important in how we learn. When people with the A1 mutation make a mistake, the lower levels of dopamine mean they aren’t satisfied with the incorrect result and try it again. About 30% of us share the A1 gene mutation, which just may give us an evolutionary advantage if you think about. Persistence in the face of adversity, not admitting defeat, and generally having the tenacity to keep grinding away at something.
The study was conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig. Germany.

If you have any suggestions for a gene worth brining to the world’s attention drop us a line at info@genomealberta.ca

.Genome Alberta in Pictures

Unsubscribe to GeneSnips

To unsubscribe to GeneSnips, please follow this link:
http://www.genomealberta.ca/genesnips/newsletter_unsubscribe.aspx