The proven determinants of scientific progress – collaboration, a plan, guaranteed funding, transparency – are nowhere to be found
The Human Genome Project (HGP) stands as one of mankind’s most remarkable achievements. Its significance is easily equal to, or even eclipses, James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of DNA’s helical structure, or Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. The goal was to determine the position and function of the more than 100,000 genes…
DNA-based vaccine offers advantages that could make it easier to get into the arms of Canadians if approved
A made-in-Alberta COVID-19 vaccine is taking a major step forward on the path to Health Canada approval with the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial. Entos Pharmaceuticals, an Edmonton company led by CEO and University of Alberta researcher John Lewis, has shipped a vaccine for testing to the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology in Halifax. The…
Which creepy-crawlies can be harnessed to act as the most effective natural method of pest control?
Fields used to grow food are naturally crawling with insects – but which ones can help crops just by being there? A University of Alberta research program aims to find out. Using next-generation DNA analysis, researcher Boyd Mori of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences is looking to see which creepy-crawlies can be harnessed to act as…
Children are disproportionately affected as genetic diseases typically manifest during childhood
A new pilot program aims to find answers and better treatments for children living with rare genetic conditions. The Undiagnosed Disease Program, launched in January, is a collaboration between the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) and University of Alberta researchers from medical genetics and pediatric neurology to provide a diagnosis to patients in the…
Answer to a fundamental question that has eluded scientists since the discovery of DNA
University of Alberta researchers have found an answer to a fundamental question in genomic biology that has eluded scientists since the discovery of DNA: Within the nucleus of our cells, is the complex package of DNA and proteins called chromatin a solid or a liquid? In a study published in the journal Cell, the research team, led…
Dogs were certainly useful but 'people clearly had emotional attachments to their dogs from the very beginning’
The close bond between humans and dogs stretches back into the last ice age, according to new international research involving a University of Alberta archeologist. Genetic analysis of the remains of 27 ancient dogs shows that at least five major ancestry lineages had diversified by 11,000 years ago, “demonstrating a deep genetic history of dogs…
We may be genetically programmed to fear spiders, but they're here for a reason. Leave them alone to eat other insects
“The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout. …” So many people are afraid of spiders, but I’ll bet almost none of them can tell you why. According to a new study out of Columbia University, it may be genetic. Our ancestors had to fear spiders – in Africa, where our roots all take us,…
Canada's separate environmental protection oversight unnecessarily delays development and approval
By Nigel Rawson and Mackenzie Moir The Fraser Institute The federal government plans to move ahead with major revisions in regulations governing the tribunal that sets ceiling prices for new prescription drugs in Canada. Revisions include: replacing countries with relatively higher drug prices with lower price countries in the international price-comparison analysis'; enforcing hard thresholds…
We are a long way from identifying definitive biomarkers to illness and personalized gene therapies are likely generations away
By Nicole Letourneau and Suzanne Tough University of Calgary Genetics will save the day – that’s the message you see constantly in the media and even in academic literature. But it's a message that can distract us from providing quality care now. Newspapers herald breakthroughs in finding genetic biomarkers for autism. Magazines trumpet finding a…
There’s already a strong engineering, finance and transportation capability in the province. We need to build on that in the new economy
A new study related to abandoned coal mining in the United Kingdom and the movement of displaced workers offers insight for Albertans. Not many of us read the online peer reviewed academic journal Nature Human Behaviour. That’s why occasionally perusing the back pages of The Economist makes sense. The Oct. 26, 2019, Economist reviews an…
The Human Genome Project (HGP) stands as one of mankind’s most remarkable achievements. Its significance is easily equal to, or even eclipses, James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of DNA’s helical structure, or Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. The goal was to determine the position and function of the more than 100,000 genes…
