Wednesday, January 3, 2018

BioChica Update

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since I've written here, so I thought I'd give you all an update on what I've been doing/writing.

First off, I'm going to continue using this space for scientific papers. I'll continue taking requests so if anyone has any papers on risks of GMOs or any trait they'd like to know more about, let me know and I'd be happy to review (you can email me at biochica.gmo at gmail dot com). I just haven't come across any topics lately that I've really wanted to investigate. Most anti-GMO claims seem to be the same ones recycled over and over again.

Second, the makers of the movie Science Moms launched the film and it's available to download. About a year ago, when filming was wrapping up, the moms featured in the film started discussing what to do next. We had seen the raw footage from the film and were excited. We decided to start a non-profit spin-off named SciMoms, geared towards parents. Our goal is to tackle a wide variety of topics ranging from vaccines and GMOs to bouncy castles and skincare. As parents, we get so much contrary information, that it's difficult to know what's right and we plan to dig into the science and contact experts to get the correct information. Our very first blog post outlines our mission and vision for the site.

About a year ago, I wrote about the importance of breaking information bubbles and silos that we find ourselves in. I really hope that this new website can reach new audiences. We have a bunch of different projects including a comic that I've been making!!

So, if you wouldn't mind telling friends/family/relatives/coworkers about this new project, I'd appreciate it. In learning about websites, marketing, and audience reach, I've learned that mailing lists are important :) So please sign up for our mailing list here to receive monthly updates.

Third, I've been writing for broader audiences on Medium, which is a blogging website. Since I don't promote or do ads for my writing, I thought that Medium might be a good way to reach more people. It's that whole "breaking bubbles" thing again. So, if you want to follow me on Medium and read articles that I've written recently, you can do so here.

Finally, on a more personal note, I'm going to start a Masters certificate in bioinformatics! I don't know how I'll find the time to juggle everything with my day job and the kid, so we'll see what happens.

Hope you all have a great 2018!!