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.

Canadian Stem Cell News

Note this recent release builing upon or previous coverage of the emerging stem cell field:

Ottawa (March 30, 2012) – The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) recently signed a partnership agreement to fund joint research projects on the epigenetics of stem cells. The agreement was established under CIHR’s Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium Signature Initiative and JST’s Strategic International Collaborative Research Program.

“CIHR is pleased to work in collaboration with our colleagues at the prestigious Japan Science and Technology Agency,” said Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “We believe this partnership will pave the way to major breakthroughs in this field and the eventual development of new therapeutics to improve human health.”

Epigenetics is a ground-breaking science that examines how environmental factors, such as diet and stress, can have life-long effects on health. This new field of research looks at long-term changes in gene activity that are not the result of modifications in the genetic code. The epigenetics of stem cells is a novel research area where both Canada and Japan demonstrate research excellence.

“The goal of this joint research program is to advance novel biological knowledge in the epigenetics of stem cells,” said Dr. Michiharu Nakamura, President of the Japan Science and Technology Agency. “It is also expected that the collaborative research among Japanese and Canadian scientists will contribute to develop innovative treatment methodologies for clinical medicine.”

Under the partnership, CIHR has committed up to $6M CAD and JST 600M Yen (approximately $8M CAD) for a total investment of $14M CAD over the next five years. The funding will support a maximum of three research teams that will require the participation of Canadian and Japanese researchers. A funding opportunity will be posted on CIHR and JST’s websites in May.

Prime Minister Harper highlighted this partnership in a recent meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Canadian stem cell drive targets Chinese donors

Canada’s Chinese community put out the call for more stem cell donors Saturday to address a disproportionate under-representation in the international stem cell registry. In all, 11 events were taking place in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal where Chinese Canadians, and the general public at large, could sit down at registration station, give a sample of their DNA through a painless swab of their inside cheek, and then have their data put into the international registry.

First HIV vaccine being developed in Canada

Canadian-developed HIV vaccine approved for human testing
Researchers at the University of Western Ontario announced Tuesday that they are beginning clinical trials next month for the first HIV vaccine being developed in Canada, using a groundbreaking technique that relies on the entire virus.