Posts tagged ‘canadian biotechnology’
Biotechnology Kids
The Bow Valley’s scientific minds
The Canadian Rockies 5th Annual Regional Science Fair was held recently with 167 students from Banff and Canmore. The one-day showcase was held at Lawrence Grassi Middle School on Friday, March 23.
Click here to see previous Canadian Biotechnologist2.0 Kids posts
Canadian discovery unrecognized for 37 years!
It’s wild to think that two Canadians were responsible for a monumental discovery that would change the face of medical research forever. It’s even more mind-boggling knowing that their discovery remained largely unpublicized for over 37 years! Check out yesterday’s Globe and Mail to read more about Armstrong McCulloch and James Edgar Till’s discovery of human stem cells.
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UBC study warns Vancouverites to stay away from fishy business
A University of British Columbia study has found traces of the bacteria listeria in ready-to-eat fish products sold in Metro Vancouver.
UBC food microbiologist Kevin Allen tested a total of 40 ready-to-eat fish samples prior to their best before date. Purchased from seven large chain stores and 10 small retailers in Metro Vancouver, these products included lox, smoked tuna, candied salmon and fish jerky.
The findings – published in a recent issue of the journal Food Microbiology – show that listeria was present in 20 per cent of the ready-to-eat fish products. Of these, five per cent had the more virulent variety of listeria monocytogenes.
Breakthrough in Search for Hepatitis C Vaccine
A University of Alberta researcher and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology has made the discovery of a vaccine that will potentially help combat hepatitis C. Michael Houghton, who led the team that discovered the hepatitis C virus in 1989, announced his findings at the Canada Excellence Research Chairs Summit in Vancouver this afternoon. Currently, there are no vaccines against the disease available.
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Start playing with science!
Spongelab Interactive, an online science education company, has been awarded an Honourable Mention by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their interactive Build-a-Body human anatomy game. The award was published in the February 3, 2012 issue of Science and is featured on the NSF website.
“Our model addresses the education world’s need for an advanced teaching tool with no payment required,” says Spongelab founder Jeremy Friedberg.
Spongelab educational games offer easy-to-understand interactive models to encourage in-depth understanding of complex science. In Build-a-Body, players interact with a virtual anatomy lesson by recreating biological systems within a human form.
Build-a-Body took honours in the Interactive Media category of the Visualization Challenge 2011, the third time Spongelab has won an NSF award. In 2009, Spongelab won First Place for Genomics Digital Lab: Cell Biology. They also took First Place for Genomics Digital Lab: Plant Cells in 2008. Spongelab has been a global leader in developing innovative learning technologies, with awards from the United Nations and published three times in the Journal of Science.
All of Spongelab’s award-winning content is available for free on Spongelab’s global science community. To start using all the features, animations, interactives, images and games, sign up for a free account at Spongelab.com and start playing with science.
