Congratulations to fellow Wales Gene Park staff member Dr Kayleigh Dodd for her recent Biochemical Journal Poster Prize!
The Biochemical Journal sponsors a number of prizes for posters presented by young scientists at meetings held internationally. (more…)
In Sergio Lenoe’s ‘Once upon a time in the West’ there’s a scene Charles Bronson describes to another cowboy what a thousand, thousand dollars is telling him “They’re calling it a million”. It seemed funny less than a hundred years ago (more…)
On the 15th April 2013 we celebrated 10 years of Wales Gene Park at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. We had a great time during which we highlighted the work of the Wales Gene Park over the decade since the first release of the human genome sequence.
A mini Symposium was held comprising short case studies illustrating highlights from our biomedical research, the presentations of which are now available to download from the links below (more…)
Cardiff Castle has many claims to fame. Yet, its role as a measure of Next Generation Sequencing output is not among them. Until now.
To be truly memorable, towns and cities need landmark buildings and one only has to visit Crewe to know how true this is. Building bling is important: it contributes to the character of a city, gives a town an extra swagger, and makes the life of the local tourist board that little bit easier.
Cardiff, capital of Wales, frequent location star in Doctor Who, and home to the Wales Gene Park, is not short of building bling and you can’t get much more congenially kitsch than the faux-medieval glory that is Cardiff Castle. Especially if you choose to pop inside for a good old mooch (I especially recommend the Arab room (more…)
Telling people you have a PhD in Genetics is a conversation killer, I get the feeling people assume I will only be interested engaging in high-brow scientific discourse for the evening, perhaps a little ‘confab’ on the Large Hadron Collider? (more…)
Disease. It defines us. The common cold can make Monday mornings uncommonly grim. Cancer can harass us into victimhood or can hone us into heroes. Neuro-psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder photoshop our perceptions, tinting and filtering how we see the world and ourselves, and how the world sees us (more…)
Some of our speakers at our 10th Anniversary event along with First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones and Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan.
Many thanks to all who joined us for our 10th Anniversary event at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama on Monday 15th April. We hope you’ll agree it was a great day celebrating scientific excellence in Wales.
We’re aiming to make the speakers’ presentations available on-line in the near future along with photos taken from the event. So watch this space!
In 2013, schools around Wales will act as hosts for genetics events during the autumn term. During previous roadshows, speakers from the Universities of Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor, Aberystwyth, Glamorgan, Bristol, Bath and Glyndwr, NHS Trusts and Police Authorities across Wales as well as private companies took part. Topics included DNA & Forensics, Genetic Counselling, Stem Cell Research, GM Foods, Inherited Disorders, Evolution, Genetics & the Media and Genetic Engineering. (more…)
There is a game played frequently at genome sequencing conferences that helps to sustain many a flagging attendee. It’s called Moore’s Law Bingo and the rules, if they exist at all, can be summarised as follows.
Every time a delegate references Moore’s Law, say by presenting a plot of plummeting sequencing costs or by making a passing reference to how sequence performance has “outstripped Moore’s Law”, that nod to Moore should be met with a knowing smile, an arching of the brow and a wry twitter posting. Perhaps the more enterprising attendees might share in an improvised score card. I am awaiting the inevitable smart phone app with interest. (more…)
This event, which will give an excellent overview of all developments in this area, will be very useful for staff working in public health, in planning and commissioning, for researchers and other health care professionals who want to better understand genomic developments and those who need a good overview to keep up-to-date with this rapidly changing field. (more…)