How Do We Grow?

Mitosis is the ordinary type of cell division that all our body cells (except egg and sperm cells) undergo. Mitosis is important for the body to grow and develop and to repair tissues.

Mitosis starts with one body cell containing 46 chromosomes (23 pairs of chromosomes) that replicates its DNA once and divides once to produce two new cells that each have a complete set of 46 chromosomes. Importantly, the 2 new cells produced are genetically identical to the original cell.

A picture is worth 1000 words. This can be especially true when you’re exploring the world of genomics. These are some wonderful online galleries of genomics images found on the genomics.energy.gov site, from the wonderful people who founded the Human Genome Project.
Basic Genomics
Human Chromosomes

In honour of Science World’s DNA Dynamo workshops held this past weekend, we’re connecting you to lots of neat information about inheritance…how your DNA turned you into the amazing person you are!
Knowing about inheritance patterns allows us to estimate the chance of a trait occurring in particular family members. Focusing on simple patterns – diseases caused by single genes, for example, will help us understand how inheritance works. Back in the nineteenth century, Mendel figured out most of the ‘rules’ for this kind of inheritance with his famous peas. Today, …

It’s your turn! What do you think of The GEEE! in Genome exhibit at Science World? What do you think of our site? Are you finding the information you’d like to see, easily? Is there something else you’re hoping to find, learn, discover?
Let us know your thoughts! Your feedback helps us grow!
AND…Don’t forget about DNA Dynamo this weekend – Saturday, December 5th and Sunday, December 6th, 11 am – 3 pm in the Eureka! Lab, Science World, TELUS World of Science, 1455 Quebec Street, Vancouver

Did you have a chance to join us at Science World this weekend, for our Crime Scene Investigations? If you did, please drop us a line and let us know what you thought! We’d love to hear from you!
If you couldn’t make it in person, we’re pleased to bring you the home version of Crime Scene Investigations.

Fortunately, there are a lot of wonderful resources available online for young scientists…from games, to videos to just plain neat stuff….there are a variety of high quality science websites out there. And we’re bringing you a list of our top ten. (all links open in a new window)

This week, we’re focusing on younger scientists. While younger scientists may sometimes need a little more explanation to fully understand some of the more complex genomics introduced throughout The GEEE! in Genome, often we’re finding it’s these bright young minds who are explaining the science to our adult guests!
When working with younger scientists, often the greatest challenge is introducing a topic  is finding a way to make it interesting & relevant. Making the topic accessible – or in other words, by answering the question “why does this matter to me?,” …

Genomics research & biotechnology are helping us find ways to clean up our environment.  Just as plants breathe in carbon dioxide and give it back to us as oxygen, certain microbes have the capacity to convert anything from greenhouse gases to water pollutants into harmless or even beneficial chemical products. This process of converting harmful environmental substances into useful ones is what we refer to as bioremediation.
A group of scientists at UBC, lead by Dr. Susan Baldwin, are studying how to use micro-organisms to help clean up the waste water …

Dear Gene-ous:
Can you really use maggots to help crime scene investigations?
Questioning in Quesnel

How much do you know about Forensics & Genomics? If you’re a fan of shows like CSI, The Mentalist, Bones or NCIS, you may feel you have a good understanding of how law enforcement agencies use forensics & genomic sciences to solve crimes and prosecute criminals. And you’re not alone…some law enforcement officers are finding that the bad guys watch these shows too. They’re getting smarter about leaving their DNA behind at the scene of a crime, or leaving extra DNA at the crime scene to confuse police.
But like most …