An Alberta non-profit organization, Genome Alberta, is hoping to raise awareness by creating a new Facebook application that allows users to gift genes! Have you ever thought that your friend would prefer blue eyes or that they would rather be a red head? According to this CBC article, "Genome Alberta is marking the 55th anniversary of the day scientists James Watson and Francis Crick identified the double helix as the structure for the human genetic blueprint." The group spent about $15,000 dollars on the development of the application and hopes to attract 30,000 followers. "You can raise awareness really, really effectively and have a really viral campaign because people want to spread the word on that kind of stuff," says David Cree, an online marketing consultant. I'm not one of those Facebook users who gets caught up in this kind of application, I personally find them a little silly, but I'm sure the money was better spent here than on paper flyers that would have only local reach and $15k doesn't buy much television coverage...
