In May 2016 a massive wildfire that became known as The Beast caused $3.6 billion in damage as it burned across 5,000 square kilometres of land in and around Fort McMurray, Alberta. It took a year for it to finally be declared as fully extinguished. Apart from the physical damage, the fire has had psychological effects on the general population and there are studies underway on specific perinatal stress as a result. The Fort McMurray…

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                          On May 7, 2018 the Calgary Zoo is welcoming four Giant Pandas, adults Er Shun and Da Mao and cubs Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue. There has been much excitement in the Calgary media building up to this day. The zoo boasts of the "newly constructed habitat that promises to be a unique experience where you can discover so much about these charming and elusive animals." Since many Calgarians are talking about the arrival…

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Overcoming a challenge is always satisfying, and it certainly beats NOT overcoming it. For researchers on the project led by Genome Alberta that is applying genomics to boost pig resilience, challenges are an essential part of achieving their goals. “All animals are susceptible to disease, but those with resilience will recover faster and have less effect on production,” said Dr. Graham Plastow, Professor, CEO - Livestock Gentec Centre, Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural, Food…

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Do you ever feel that you and your partner are not just on different pages, but in separate libraries? Even the best of friends don’t always see eye-to-eye about their goals and priorities. As Genome Alberta scientists strive to boost feed efficiency and lower methane emissions in dairy cows, part of the project is looking at how research around emissions may be viewed differently by producers and consumers.   Known as GE3LS (Genomics and its…

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Do you ever feel that you and your partner are not just on different pages, but in separate libraries? Even the best of friends don’t always see eye-to-eye about their goals and priorities. As Genome Alberta scientists strive to boost feed efficiency and lower methane emissions in dairy cows, part of the project is looking at how research around emissions may be viewed differently by producers and consumers.   Known as GE3LS (Genomics and its…

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Bioenterprise Corporation, a national, non-profit agri-technology business accelerator has signed of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Genome Alberta, a publicly funded not-for-profit corporation that initiates, funds, and manages genomics research and partnerships. Genomics plays a significant role in the advancement of agricultural technologies and creating a sustainable future for the sector. The collaboration between these two organizations will facilitate knowledge exchange and create synergies to commercialize technologies and genomic applications within agriculture, bio-products,…

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                          Science Fair season is almost over in Alberta. The top students from the regional fairs now proceed as finalists to compete in the Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF). They will be accompanied by adult supervisors called delegates to this year’s fair in Ottawa, Ontario from May 16 to 18. It will be an exciting time for ‘Team Alberta’ and we at Genome Alberta wish them well on this adventure. We at Genome Alberta are excited…

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                              x UCalgary's newsletter UToday tells us: "You won't leave with a degree but the University of Calgary's Mini Med School offers the community a dynamic introduction to the world of chronic disease and the changes taking place in medical research and health care today." That was back in 2016 when the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases created a new community engagement program called Mini Med School. This isn't the first Mini Med School offered…

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The Stem Cell Network (SCN) announced  funding of $4 million for innovative stem cell and regenerative medicine research that will help translate discoveries into better health and economic growth for Canadians. This funding was made available thanks to a 2017 budget commitment by the Government of Canada and followed a competitive peer reviewed process facilitated by SCN. SCN will support a total of 24 goal-directed projects from across Canada that are moving research from lab…

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In partnership with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AAF), Genome Alberta is pleased to announce the launch of the Alberta Applied Agricultural Genomics Program (A3GP). This funding competition aims to support the advancement of genomics-enabled research to address challenges and opportunities important to Alberta’s agriculture and agri-food sectors. The A3GP will provide funding for genomics-based research projects of up to $250,000 over a period of 2 years. Genome Alberta and AAF will support 100% of eligible…

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