Sigma BioBlogs

Biomagnifique, Bioprachtvollen, Biomagnificent…

Back by popular demand!  Design the next Bio-shirt and win t-shirts for your lab!  The last winning entry was Biolicious! The next could be YOURS.

We received so many great entries, it was difficult for us to select a winner, so, this time we are will choose 3 bio-shirt designs.   Here is your chance to try again, or for the first time!

Here is how:

1. Nominate a bio-word
2. The Where Bio Begins team will select 5  to be voted upon by the Biounity community via online poll.
3. The top 3 entrants by popular vote will win shirts for their lab (up to 25 t-shirts per winning entry).

We are collecting nominations through January 31, 2011..so hurry!

Voting will run from February 1 – 12, 2011, at wherebiobegins.com/biounity

Bio-shirt contest rules and regulations.
Questions? Contact us at wherebiobegins@sial.com

Curious about the first bioshirt contest?

People across the United States are preparing turkeys,  sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and many other delicious delicacies for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Feast.

One of the traditions for Thanksgiving, is to express gratitude for the happenings of the previous year.

Today, the Sigma Life Science blog staff would like to give thanks for the science community.  We took a chance this year on using social media to get in touch with the larger science community, and the reaction has been one of warm welcome and great discussion.

Pumpkin pie, like my mom is making (courtesy Wikimedia commons)

Here are just a few of the scientists who have participated in our Where Bio Begins world since January 2010! We thank them, and you all for being a part of this great year.

• Where does your bio begin? Thanks to all who entered fascinating photos, videos, and stories on how bio began for them!
• John Rinn – Harvard researcher solving the mysteries of large non-coding RNA’s, and making time for tricks and turns on the snow runs.
• Tara De Silva – by day she’s Probing White matter studying oligodendrocytes.  By night, she’s Finger…  Zinc Finger
• Beverly Chilton – She does Cancer research focusing on hormone regulation in the female reproductive system, and is a life long science fan.
• Frank Sleutels lab – Studying gene regulation and how it’s influenced by packaged chromatin in the nucleus. They find science as addictive as M&M’s!
• Dana Carroll-  a thought leader for using zinc finger nucleases in genome editing..and one of the most gracious and welcoming people I’ve ever met.
• Sarah Wyatt- Midwestern scientist who has worked with NASA studying gravitational biology

We have been using biowords for weeks now to describe everything; biocool, bioblog, biotweeple, biofacebooking, biosocial, biobling…

The word for today is “Biocontest”.

The contest is something we planned when we first posted our Wherebiobegins twitter account.  We knew that if there were great prizes like a Targeted Knockout, a CompoZr Integration kit, or an Apple® iPad,  we would see some creative biosparks flying across the web.

Here’s how it will work:

• Think back, and determine the story of what sparks biology for you.  Nature? experimentation?
• Tell your PI you need time to create an entry that will win a CompoZr ZFN
• Tell the story either through an essay, a video, or an image .
• Go to WhereBioBegins.com/contest and upload it.
• Tell your friends to vote for your entry! “Category” prizes will be awarded based on popular votes.
• Check back frequently to see if you are winning!
• Know your legalese

If you have problems with your submission, please email yfgsuggestions@sial.com.

Good Luck!  We look forward to seeing your entries!