Uschi Symmons

Uschi Symmons

Philadelphia, USA

More

Published on Feb 23, 2019

A manuscript with our LILBUBome results is online!

Dear All,Today was a big day for us at the LilBUBome headquarters: after months of work, hundreds of emails back and forth and quite a few Skype meetings we made a preprint of our findings from Lil...

Group 6 Copy 582
Published on May 20, 2015

Our stretch goal: Maine Coons. The sky’s the limit for awesome cat genetics!

As we posted yesterday, we have reached the full amount needed to sequence BUBs genome. Thanks again to everyone who made this happen! But the fundraiser is still not over! We have 5 more days to p...

Group 6 Copy 653
Published on May 19, 2015

We made it! You are all amazing!!!

With a wonderful donation we just went over the line and made our target of 6,500$!!!!! You are guys are totally amazing, for having made this reality!! We just can't stop grinning - like a Cheshir...

Group 6 Copy 136
Published on May 16, 2015

Same, same, but different? Meet Rosie, another cat with osteopetrosis.

One of the great things about the LilBUBome is that it's an open science project, so we get to interact a lot with people who are interested in our science. One of these people is Ann, whom we got ...

Group 6 Copy 197
Published on May 08, 2015

23 days later, this is where we’re at…

Hi All,17 days of crowdfunding to go and last week was totally insane: we found a mutation in LilBUB's genome, which we think causes her polydactyly (!). Also, traffic and support for the project j...

Group 6 Copy 238
Published on Apr 23, 2015

Why sequence Lil Bub?

Many people have asked us why we want to sequence Lil Bub? Because we can? Well, curiosity is part of it, but there's much more! First and foremost, we think it can help pets and humans with trait...

Group 6 Copy 415
Thank you!
Apr 07, 2019
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Thank you!
Apr 07, 2019
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Yes he is! After all, it was Mike and Art who did all the hard work of figuring out that BUB has osteopetrosis - and without that as a starting point we might never have launched the LilBUBome. So obviously we wanted to give credit where credit was due! :)
Feb 26, 2019
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Thanks!
Feb 23, 2019
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Hey, looks like an awesome and fun project. Lots of luck with the fundraising!
Jan 11, 2017
How to become a vampire: evolution and development of the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus.
View comment
Really cool project (and incredibly cute parrots ;) Best of luck with the crowdfunding!
Feb 03, 2016
Sequencing the genomes of all known kākāpō
View comment
Congratulations - very awesome!!! Best of luck with the project and btw - love the lab notes :)
Dec 27, 2015
How does hemlock tree decline impact bird bioindicators and ecosystem condition?
View comment
Yes, it's in our pipeline! Wow, I had no idea we had so many supporters with technical interests. Thanks so much for your feedback. More posts to come this week and next. Some of the background stuff we post primarily on our blog (lilbubome.wordpress.com), but we'll make sure we link to it here, too.
Sep 15, 2015
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Thanks! Yes, it was - especially, since I have zero experience making a video.
Sep 11, 2015
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Hi, yes totally! Sorry if that wasn't clear. Actually, we're putting together both a longer video, as well as a post with the actual "parameters" of the sequencing, and will be releasing those, together with some info on the technology over the course of the next 2-3 weeks. But we know that have a really diverse set of backers and followers, so we thought that mixing things up a little could ensure we don't loose anyone of the way. Thanks so much for the kind words and the feedback, it's so good to know that people read those long blog posts :)
Sep 11, 2015
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Hi Brandon, Thanks so much for wanting to donate! Unfortunately, the crowdfunding period for the LilBUBome ended on Monday (it was only 40 days). However, if you're interested in the project we hope you'll follow us on one of our social media: on our blog lilbubome.wordpress.com or on facebook or twitter (our handle is "LilBubome" everywhere). If you want to donate you could either give to our sister project, the 99 Lives (http://felinegenetics.missouri.edu/99lives), which aims to sequence 99 cats to find out more about feline health. Or you could support LilBUB's BIG Fund (http://lilbub.com/bigfund), which helps homeless pets with special needs. Or if you want something more science-related - have a look around experiment.com, there's a bunch of really cool projects. Best wishes, Uschi
May 27, 2015
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Hi Nancy, your comment is completely justified. Thank you very much. So, first of all: no, this aspect of the project does not at all encourage cat breeding. In fact, we selected Maine Coons specifically, because other options included breeds where the breeding has led to a traits that really reduce the quality of life (eg Munchkins). Also, Maine Coons are a well-established breed where a lot of research has already been done, so we're hoping that maybe we can even work with samples that have already been collected for other purposes. Another option would have been a breed that was only established in 2011, and displays dwarfism - but along the same lines as your reasoning we opted against it. Yet, in terms of getting the most out of genetic data, breeds can be very useful, because of the reduced genetic diversity (ironically, the same thing that causes all the problems). Hence why we opted for the Maine Coons - and of course because of the connection with BUB. I hope this answers your question and concerns. All the best, Uschi
May 20, 2015
The LilBubome - Sequencing LilBub's Magical Genome
View comment
Show more comments