April 21 is DNA Day in Canada

News | April 20, 2015 | Share on:

This article refers to DNA Day 2015. For information on the current event please visit DNA Day 2016.

Canada’s DNA Day brings together students and the science community

On Tuesday April 21, Canadians will celebrate DNA Day with a full day of live online discussions with Canadian experts including Jay Ingram, past host of the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet. Created by Let’s Talk Science and Genome Alberta, DNA Day connects Canadians with the science community to explore the fields of genetics and genomics.

The day includes four live virtual Q&A sessions with Canadian experts. Three of those sessions are text-based chats while the other is a live Google Hangout with experts Jay Ingram, Dr. Francois Bernier and Dr. Carolyn Fitzsimmons. The experts will discuss genetics questions submitted by students and members of the public.

Watch a video by the Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology) discussing the importance of DNA Day.

Chat times for DNA Day include:

  • 9:00 am – 10:30 am ET text chat with Dr. Sean Myles
  • 11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET Google Hangout with Jay Ingram, Dr. Francois Bernier and Dr. Carolyn Fitzsimmons
  • 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET text chat with Dr. David Charest
  • 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm ET text chat with Dr. Paul Gordon

2015 marks the fifth year DNA Day has been celebrated in Canada. DNA Day was developed to shine a spotlight on DNA and genetics and explore what makes all living things unique and different. It is celebrated in April for two reasons:

  • To commemorate James Watson and Francis Crick’s paper published in April 1953 describing the structure of DNA and the discovery of the double helix
  • To celebrate the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003

If you’d like to participate in DNA Day, please submit your questions by emailing dnaday@explorecuriocity.org with your name, organization/school and grade (if applicable).

DNA Day is made possible thanks to the support from Genome Canada, Genome Atlantic, Genome BC, Cybera, the Ontario Genomics Institute, and Genome Prairie.