Health and Wellness Blog

Curious about Canada's food heritage? Join us for a free lecture at TRL...

Dorothy Duncan will take you on a Canadian culinary adventure. From the self-sufficient First Nations to Prairie Settlers to Convenience Foods, she explores the diversity of Canada's food history. Her book, Canadians at Table was a 2007 winner in the Cuisine Canada awards.

 

Where: Toronto Reference Library, Beeton Auditorium, Toronto

When: Tuesday, January 24th, 2012  1:30 to 3 pm

What:  Free lecture. All welcome! Wheelchair accessible

 

Check out also Dorothy's other books on this fascinating topic: 

 

                               

The Human Genome: the Dawn of Personalized Medicine

The Human Genome Project was started in October 1990 and completed in April 2003.  The goal of the project was to identify  all of the approximately 20,000 to 25,000 genes of a human being and to determine the sequence.  The genome is a complete set of DNA including its genes.

Why is it important? The benefits include:

• Drugs to target specific diseases
• Match the right drug (ones most likely to work) with the individual
• Predict your genetic risk for many diseases through genetic testing
• Gene therapy

 

For more information read A Guide to Your Genome from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Would you spend $1,000.00 to have your genome sequenced?  On Tuesday two competing companies announced the development of a new machine that can sequence your genome in a day for $1,000.00.  Read The $1,000 Human Genome: Are We There Yet? from Scientific American.

Check out the Library's recent books about the Human Genome Project.  To see which branch has a copy of the book and to place a hold, click on the title or cover link; 

Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project	Here is a Human Being: at the Dawn of Personal Genomics	The $1,000 Genome: the Revolution in DNA Sequencing and the New Era of Personalized Medicine

New Year's resolutions and how to keep them...

Five days into the new year and many of us are already struggling to keep our resolutions. For some tips on how to stick to your resolutions watch this YouTube clip or check out one of TPL's books listed below:   

 

     

By the way, these suggestions don't just apply to new year's resolutions. It's about goal setting and steps on reaching your goals. And no, you don't have to wait for the new year to set goals. Anytime is good. Just make sure your goals are realistic and attainable. So get going...what are you waiting for?