Sigma BioBlogs

I met many BRF’s a couple of weeks ago at the ABRF (Association for Biomolecular Resource Facilities) 2010 meeting in Sacramento, while I was learning more about how scientists use social media, and acting as a resource for our YFG research tool.

What is a Biomolecular Resource Facility?  It’s also known as a “Core Lab”.

The ABRF group consists of about 800 scientists.  Compared to disease research meetings which have over 10,000 attendees, the group is involved is small, but the name “core” facility very aptly describes a typical ABRF scientist’s position..

Core labs are facilities within scientific institutions and companies that operate and maintain the machinery required to generate gene expression data, protein analyses, Next Generation DNA sequencing, protein sequencing and characterization, post translational modification analyses.  These cornerstone techniques are used by researchers throughout the world to study cancer, heart disease, and other molecular biological questions.

I asked Angela Crawford, Sigma’s Proteomics Product manager what to expect.  She said “The ABRF community is very inclusive and collaborative.  Many members are collaborating to establish standards and share best practices.  Together they develop better analysis methods, which leads to a better understanding of biology. Expect to see lots of ways to interact with the scientists.”

And we did!  The opening reception was a great example.  Each attendee received a card and a colored sticker denoting the number of meetings attended, and was given a card to complete by getting the name of someone from each giving newbies and veterans a simple ice-breaker to get to know each other.

The closing event was great as well! We got a chance to get to know more ABRF members before we headed back home.

This level of long-term successful, global collaboration is amazing to see.  A description of these collaborations or “Research groups” is available via the ABRF.org website.