The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a historic action today making the first gene therapy available in the United States, ushering in a new approach to the treatment of cancer and other serious and life-threatening diseases. The FDA approved Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) for certain pediatric and young adult patients with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). “We’re entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient’s own cells to…

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Most days, genomics are like the brainy kid at the back of the class, working away quietly and shunning the spotlight. But on August 22, 2017, they literally had a field day with all the attention, taking centre stage for the Cow-Forage Gentec Tour at the Lacombe Research Centre.  This year, the focus was on the interaction among cow, forage and genomics. Staff from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Agriculture & Forestry, Alberta Beef Producers and…

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a historic action today making the first gene therapy available in the United States, ushering in a new approach to the treatment of cancer and other serious and life-threatening diseases. The FDA approved Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) for certain pediatric and young adult patients with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). “We’re entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient’s own cells to…

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A nationally and internationally respected researcher of beef cattle health and welfare has been awarded the 2017 Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, PhD, was honored tonight at the 2017 Canadian Beef Industry Conference. Dr. Schwartzkopf-Genswein is a Senior Research Scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta and holds adjunct appointments at several universities. She has made phenomenal contributions to advancements in the competitiveness and sustainability of the…

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A lot of excitement has been generated over the upcoming solar eclipse. I don’t think that a single news outlet, print or video, has neglected this opportunity to weigh in on the topic. What more could I add to the mix? Not much beyond some personal experiences with students. If you want to learn more details about this eclipse or others go to NASA as your first source. Perhaps the giddiness over this 2017 solar…

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Since December of last year we have been giving you regular updates on our Chronic Wasting Disease project funded as part of the 2015 LSARP competition. CWD is a fatal nervous system disease among cervids (deer, moose, elk, reindeer). It is a variation of BSE (more commonly known as mad cow disease)  and is caused by prions. The only reliable test to see if an animal has CWD is a postmortem  examination so the team…

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Given the cost of printer ink and the environmental consequences of its manufacture, this year the University of Lethbridge high school iGEM team has chosen a project that might solve both problems. “Our project is the development of biological pigment for use in the manufacturing of ink,” says Erin Kelly (BSc ’17), a U of L master’s student and graduate student coordinator of the High School iGEM team. “We found that the manufacturing of the…

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Genomics can contribute to the fight against climate change by helping us to understand the impact of the changes on living organisms, by identifying the abilities of organism to adapt to the changing climate, and to give us the tools to act on climate change. Canada’s rate of warming is about twice the global rate and we will have to contend with: longer, warmer growing seasons altered rainfall patterns, leading to droughts and floods  climate…

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                                   Banting and Best became famous, but what about MacLeod and Collip? Do we learn anything about the history of the discovery of insulin in high school biology? It could be a story of early biotech in Canada. It could also be the story of how two Canadians were denied their place in Nobel Prize history. And what is the connection to the absorption of oxygen and the elimination…

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