The Science behind the Victoria Day Long Weekend

The Biotechnology in Beer Making

At first glance, beercraft seems simple; after all, a beer maker’s ingredient list is incredibly brief: malted barley, water and hops. Historically, naturally occurring yeasts converted the mix’s sugar content into alcohol; one of the first biotechnological developments in beercraft was the introduction of customized yeast cultures to refine the process. Biotech in beer making is now almost entirely in the GMO field. Beer biotechnologists are using GMO to improve the barley stock and streamline the malting process

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Olds College is launching Canada’s first ever national post-secondary brewmaster program.

The southern Alberta school has partnered with Niagara College in Ontario for the two-year degree that will train students to become expert beer makers.

The Niagara College Food and Wine Institute will share its expertise in the beverage arts with Olds College to create the brewmaster diploma.

Biotechnology News

Global Biotechnology Reagents Market to Reach US$38.3 Billion by 2017, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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Biotechnology Education in Canada

The 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada Competition asks youth ‘how will you change the world’ – Toronto’s Top Biotech Whiz Kids AnswerRegional 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada Competition takes place in Toronto April 18th. The national research competition inspires Canadian youth to pursue future studies and careers in Canada’s $86 billion biotechnology industry

In its 19th year, the “2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC)” is coordinated by Bioscience Education Canada and is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur Limited, Sanofi Canada, the National Research Council Canada (NRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Genome Canada, and the Government of Canada’s Youth Awareness Program.

This year, 26 projects compete for the top spot in Toronto and students look at how to boost the immune system of bees, how to use nanotechnology for more sensitive imaging of lung cancers and how to silence the expression of a mutated gene.

The winner of this competition, along with winners from the other eight regional competitions, will enter the national competition, held at the headquarters of the National Research Council in Ottawa on May 7, 2012. Regional competitions have already been held in Montreal (March 30), Winnipeg, MB (April 11), Vancouver, BC (April 16), and will take place in Edmonton, AB (April 18), Saskatoon, SK (April 18), London, ON (April 18), Toronto, ON (April 17/18), Ottawa, ON (April 25), and Moncton, NB (April 25).

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Biotechnology News

Click here for Indepth article from the Globe & Mail on new trends in Biotechnology funding in Canada.

Biotechnology News

America’s Supreme Court wallops the biotech industry
Mar 24th 2012 | NEW YORK | from the print edition

Important news for our sector out of the US.

..PATENTS are supposed to encourage innovation, not stifle it. On March 20th America’s Supreme Court threw out two medical patents for doing the latter. The ruling in Mayo v Prometheus was unequivocal. So was the horrified reaction from the biotechnology industry.

Prometheus is the most important case to date for biotech’s most important new effort. “Personalised medicine” promises new treatments and much-needed new revenue. Different patients are predisposed to certain diseases and certain remedies. If firms understand these predispositions, they can offer diagnostic tests and targeted treatments. Not surprisingly, companies have sought patents for many tests. The Supreme Court may have made some of these patents worthless.

For More CLINK: http://www.economist.com/node/21551087

What impact will this decision have on the Canadian Biotechnology sector?