Cellular agriculture allows us to grow animal products like meat, milk, and eggs from cells instead of animals. If we want to keep eating the foods we love through the uncertain climate conditions ahead, then Canada, like the rest of the world, needs to be proactive about developing this technology and diversifying our food system.

As the world continues to turn to science to address some of our most pressing and difficult challenges, we at Ontario Genomics continue to dedicate ourselves to the earnest task of advancing genomics and engineering biology in Ontario and beyond.

Exploring the ethical, social, legal, economic and environmental implications of advances in genomics and bioengineering is critically important to ensure a responsible governance of these technologies so that they are implemented for the benefit of Canadians and the world.

Congratulations to Ontario Genomics for another successful year. Thanks to your ground-breaking work, Ontario is becoming a global leader in research and innovation across sectors such as health, agriculture and agri-food, bioproducts, natural resources, and the environment. Genomics technologies and tools have the potential to transform lives and help solve some of our biggest challenges. Your support for genomics research is having a large impact on Ontarians’ health care and well-being. 

Ontario Genomics is the hub for the province’s genomics research and has shown leadership in this trying time through initiatives like ONCoV, which helped create a collaborative network to support Ontario’s response to the pandemic. Ontario Genomics provided invaluable user feedback and commercialization guidance to support the success and scalability of COVID Cloud. We are excited to continue our collaboration and extend the reach of this technology beyond COVID-19 to other public health crises and specialty disease areas.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are seeing increasing emergence of variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs) which threaten the health and wellbeing of Canadians. The funding provided by Ontario Genomics and Genome Canada is helping my team to develop a genomics-based surveillance platform based on analysis of wastewater, providing a customizable tool for use in controlling the spread of infectious diseases, whether they be food or waterborne, or respiratory borne like COVID-19.

In the continued pursuit of realizing the expansive socioeconomic impact of genomic technologies, a student-focused perspective is needed in addition to the multi-sectoral expertise already present. My role on the Board played a part in furthering this goal by integrating trainee interest within Ontario Genomics’ continued employment of genomic-based solutions to problems facing both Canadians and the world.

The GEN-FISH network consists of 24 committed and dedicated scientists who care passionately about the freshwater fishes of Canada and around the world. The GEN-FISH funding will ensure the development of novel, ground-breaking genomic technology to help conserve freshwater fish for generations to come.

My research interest in genomics is in understanding the best use of genomics in infection prevention, particularly outbreak management. But much of my work in this pandemic has been to try to develop strategies to make sure that samples and meta-data are available to support everyone’s research agendas. The ONCoV Genomics Coalition, built by Ontario Genomics, has provided a vital platform to facilitate this.

Congratulations to Ontario Genomics for 20 years of revolutionizing genomics research and commercialization in Ontario. It is because of your commitment to excellence and leadership in the field, that Ontario continues to create strategic genomics resources and advances the development of globally competitive life sciences sectors.

Most chemicals are made from petroleum feedstocks and replacing them with sustainable feedstocks is essential for moving to a zero-carbon emissions economy. Bioprocesses operate at lower temperatures and pressures and have high specificity. These benefits combined with recent computational advances (e.g., structure prediction) and experimental developments (e.g., genome editing) in engineering biology motivates the application of bioengineering for sustainable chemicals production.

Synthetic biology and bioengineering have the potential to meet a lot of global challenges. For instance, recent advances in cell-free synthetic biology have enabled my team to develop SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics, leveraging widely available point-of-care sensing devices such as glucose meters, to serve as nucleic acid sensors for variants of concern detection; for which international technology transfer efforts are now underway with researchers in Latin America and Asia.

With the intensifying effects of climate change already seen in Canada and worldwide, it is paramount to invest in creative solutions to address the impacts of waste on our environment. The Large-Scale Applied Research Project program brings much-needed investment into collaborative research endeavours like this project that seeks to reduce plastic waste.

Breeding animals resilient to heat stress and other environmental challenges exacerbated through climate change is a very important goal that will ensure a safe and sustainable food supply in a changing environment.

The advent of CRISPR technologies has been a game-changer for genome editing applications in therapeutics and agriculture. It is important to note the speed at which this disruptive technology has been adopted by industry, and how fast start-ups were created to commercialize various editing applications.

Using engineering biology as a technology platform, Canada can capitalize on existing industry capacity, align academic expertise, and lead in three vertical pillars: circular bioeconomy for biomaterials and minerals; protein manufacturing; and advanced biologics.

The Large-Scale Applied Research Project (LSARP) competition provides support for high-impact research projects using genomic approaches to provide solutions and drive innovation in Canada’s main economic sectors. The recently funded projects demonstrate the application of genomics to address real-world challenges.

The power and capacity of science to solve the world’s most pressing challenges have come to the forefront throughout this pandemic. I am proud to have played a role in harnessing Ontario’s dynamic and diverse research and innovation capacity, bringing it together across the province for better pandemic response and supporting national and global efforts for COVID-19 solutions.

We take pride in our impressive track record and continued commitment to supporting job creation, investment, and intellectual property (IP) generation in Ontario. Behind these numbers are the people whose passion and dedication to genomics and biotechnology deliver a real impact across so many sectors and in so many corners of this province.

The ability of this research to effectively incorporate COVID-19 related work speaks to the agility and transferability of genomics. From food/agricultural production, including new production methods such as cellular agriculture, to environmental solutions, and public health crisis interventions, Ontario Genomics is ready at the helm to support the applied research that can have an incredible impact.

Bioengineering and biomanufacturing are revolutionizing drug development through increased automation, miniaturization, and precision in the way we analyze and manipulate biological systems. It is exciting to see the successful use of such advanced health technologies in accelerating the development of highly effective vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and more.

Solving complex problems such as a worldwide pandemic and climate change requires transdisciplinary approaches across the life sciences. Genome Canada, together with Ontario Genomics and Canada’s other regional Genome Centres, is on a mission to deliver genomic solutions for pandemic preparedness, biomanufacturing, and our developing bio-economy.

Effectively communicating with our stakeholders and the general public is a strategic priority for us at Ontario Genomics. By creating and sharing engaging, relevant, and action-oriented content, I believe we are bringing our community closer together and increasing our impact in Ontario, Canada, and the world.

Over the years, Ontario Genomics has wholeheartedly committed itself to leading across sectors, seeking impact in every corner of the province. The relationships we’ve built along the way continue to allow Ontario Genomics to nurture and harness the very best research and innovation and catalyze it to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

GIFS is building out its biomanufacturing platform to scale up research, development, and production in agriculture and food. We’re pleased to be a member of the Ontario Genomics-led National Engineering Biology Steering Committee, driving Canada’s strategy for biomanufacturing that’s projected to have a huge impact on agri-food over the next decade.