The Pulse: Feb. 10, 2021

Applied Quantum Materials (AQM) is using magnetic nanoparticles to help bolster Alberta's COVID-19 testing program. It has secured a deal with Alberta Health Services to provide the provincial laboratory system with COVID-19 testing kits.

Alberta has been using COVID-19 tests that require a substance called reagent, which the province has been procuring from international companies.

"AQM decided to address the issue and developed the only all Canadian-produced viral extraction reagent," AQM's chief executive officer Dr. David Antoniuk said in an email to Taproot Edmonton.

"Working with the University of Alberta and Alberta Precision Labs we developed a magnetic silicon-based nanomaterial which is highly effective in binding to the COVID-19 RNA." 

The kits are used to extract the genetic material from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The kits use AQM's proprietary MagDx technology, including magnetic silicon-based nanoparticles, which allows the extraction and isolation of nucleic acids (RNA/DNA).

• City council has rejected a proposed social media policy which would have deterred councillors from blocking some users.
• The Edmonton Journal's Groundwork series covers why some vulnerable seniors weren't part of Alberta's initial vaccine rollout.
• The doctors who got COVID-19 at an Edmonton bonspiel last year have released a study on the spread. "The study found that a 'significantly' greater proportion of symptomatic participants attended the buffet lunches at the curling rink," reported Global News.
• An LRT line in Edmonton south cracked on Feb. 9 due to the extreme cold, said city officials. Both the Metro and Capital line trains use the line in question, but full service is expected to be restored for the Wednesday, Feb. 10 morning commute.
• Matthew Wood, who goes by the handle Creeasian, has been selected as Edmonton's newest Indigenous Artist In Residence.

Beaumont council passed the first reading last week of a bylaw to borrow $10 million to create a business park.

The funding for the proposed Beaumont Innovation Park includes the purchase of land for the project. A prospective tenant has already committed $1 million with plans for a "significant overall investment," according to a news release.

“This proposal represents the cumulative work by council and city administration in the last few years to encourage more business development in Beaumont,” Mayor John Stewart said in the release.

“Growing our business community will provide more services, amenities, and jobs for residents and broaden our tax base so we can continue to afford city services, parks, and recreation opportunities, and all the other aspects that contribute to the high quality of life in Beaumont.”

In anticipation of the world premiere of Dana Wylie's Makings of a Voice at SkirtsAfire, Taproot Edmonton brings you a conversation about motherhood, identity, and community.

On Conversations: Makings of a Voice, you'll hear Wylie herself, along with director Vanessa Sabourin, cellist Christine Hanson, and this year's Honorary Skirt, Dr. Wanda Costen, in a wide-ranging and heartfelt discussion delving into four different but convergent experiences of motherhood and womanhood.

"It's important for us as women and as artists to keep telling stories, to help other women understand that we are owed our stories," Wylie said of her work. "We all need to own our stories, and tell our stories to each other, and validate each other."

Makings of a Voice will be streamed March 8 to 14 by SkirtsAfire, Edmonton's only theatre and multidisciplinary arts organization featuring women-identifying and non-binary artists, of which Taproot is happy to be a media sponsor.

Watch for more Conversations in the months ahead on the Taproot Edmonton Presents podcast, one of the many ways in which Taproot helps Edmontonians understand their community better.

This story has been updated to reflect that Makings of a Voice will be streamed from March 8 to 14.

This week's word is "nisîmis" which means "my younger sibling" in Cree. Here's how to pronounce it.

The Cree word of the week was featured by local strategic communications agency Naheyawin in 2018. Republished with permission!