An emblematic open science project for HK

@SCEdmunds@BauhiniaGenome

#HKGenome

A brief history of genomics…

Source: http://www.genome.gov/Images/press_photos/highres/38-300.jpg

Human Genome Project: 1990-2003. 1 Genome = $3 Billion

Post-Human Genome Project

1st Gen

2nd (next) Gen

Source: http://www.genome.gov/sequencingcosts/ (with apologies)

The skills needed for the 21st century

"by 2025, it is possible that as many as 25% of the population in developed nations and half of that in less-developed nations will have their genomes sequenced”

Big Data: Astronomical or Genomical?http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1002195

GENOMICS IN HONG KONG

BGI HK Chamber O’Illumina’sThe LHC of Biology?

20PB of storage

Made in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s R&D spend is lowData: WorldBank

Hong Kong’s R&D spend is lowData: WorldBank

Hong Kong could invest in R&D

• HK runs a surplus (unlike everyone else)• US spend on Human Genome (1988-2003)

returned $1.98 in economic output for every $1.00 spent

• US spend on genomics (1993-2010) returns $2.01 for every $1.00 spent

• General public R&D spend in UK returns about £1.20 for every £1.00 spent

http://bit.ly/1jTzB3R

Hong Kong’s focus…“The plot earmarked for expansion of Hong Kong Science Park might now be used to build apartment blocks instead. Is the government backing down on its commitment to project Hong Kong as a major technology hub?” http://bit.ly/1TxCRj3

Hong Kong’s focus…“The plot earmarked for expansion of Hong Kong Science Park might now be used to build apartment blocks instead. Is the government backing down on its commitment to project Hong Kong as a major technology hub?” http://bit.ly/1TxCRj3

Hong Kong’s fears…

https://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/conservation/con_gmo/con_gmo.html

Hong Kong’s fears…transparency

http://index.okfn.org/

Hong Kong’s fears…transparency

https://data.gov.hk

WORKING AROUND THE SYSTEM

Breaking the funding bottleneck

Biggest crowdfunding successes

The “Peoples Parrot”Puerto Rican Parrot Genome Project (Amazona vittata )Rarest parrot, national bird of Puerto Rico

Community funded from artworks, fashion shows, beer brands, crowdfunding…

Genome annotated by students in community college as part of bioinformatics education

Paper and Data published in GigaScience and GigaDB

Taras K Oleksyk, et al., (2012) A Locally Funded Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) Genome Sequencing Project Increases Avian Data and Advances Young Researcher Education. GigaScience 2012, 1:14Steven J. O’Brien. (2012): Genome empowerment for the Puerto Rican parrot – Amazona vittata. GigaScience 2012, 1:13Oleksyk et al., (2012): Genomic data of the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) from a locally funded project. GigaScience. http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100039

The “Peoples Parrot”

https://youtu.be/Hr43ZXP9NGw

CHANGING THE SYSTEM

Brought to you by: HK CUHK

…and the people of Hong Kong

An emblematic genome project

A historical mystery that needs solving

?

Botanical and Afforestation Department, 1903: "The mysterious origin of the tree and its magnificent flowers at once arrest the interest. … So far, all efforts to identify them with any foreign species have failed"

Plant genomics #101Why hybrids changed the world?

An icon that needs protecting

Useful Bauhinia?

Latin name

Common name

(Nepal) Edible use Other useBauhinia purpurea Tanki

Flowers and young shoots eaten as vegetable. Leaves used as fodder.

Bauhinia valii BhorlaPods eaten as vegetable.

Fruits edible.

Stem bark used to make ropes.Leaves used to make umbrella

Traditional plates for ritual functions.

Bark juice used as fermenting material and to cure blood

dysentery.

Bauhinia variegata Koiralo

Young shoots and leaves eaten as vegetable. Flowers eaten as vegetable or used

to make pickle. N/A

Useful Bauhinia?

Useful Bauhinia?

A puzzle that needs assembling

With Parts Made in (BGI) Hong Kong

Building skills and awareness in HK

Building skills and awareness in HK….in the news

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1875917/unique-project-sequence-genome-hong-kong-bauhinia-tree

Building skills and awareness in HK….in the art galleries

Building skills and awareness in HK….in the art galleries

Building skills and awareness in HK….on the radio

http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/programme.php?name=radio3/1_2_3_show&d=2015-11-19&p=5979&e=&m=episode

CNN “On China” covering the Bauhinia Genome project, 27th April 2016 https://youtu.be/TyJBALA0da0

Building skills and awareness in HK….on TV

A project that needs supporting

@bauhiniagenome #bauhinawatchhttps://www.facebook.com/BauhiniaGenome

http://bauhiniagenome.hk/

http://igg.me/at/bauhinia https://www.patreon.com/BauhiniaGenome

Follow us:

What next for the peoples GMO?

Education: #bauhiniawatch

Education: school outreach

Education: (OER) teaching materials

https://www.oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/9147/overview

Education: reproducible research

Education: lets make genomes!(or at least 4 x transcriptomes)

Education: lets share (OPEN) data

Next: lets analyse (OPEN) data

Finally: what can you do to help?

• Spread the word.

• Phenotype: #bauhiniawatch.

• Donate towards whole genomes.

• Help with fundraising.

• Learn & help with genome assembly.

Thank you for listening!