Archives for April 2023

Funding Opportunity: Genomic Monitoring of Pathogens in Water – C3 Hub Webinar Registration

April 27, 2023 by ontarioadmin

Community Coordination and Collaboration Hub (C3 Hub) Funding Opportunity

Ontario Genomics and Genome Canada invite you to an introductory information session about a new funding opportunity, the Community Coordination and Collaboration Hub (C3 Hub), within our recently launched targeted genomic initiative known as .

The Community Coordination and Collaboration Hub (C3 Hub) will be a single Pan-Canadian team responsible for connecting regional surveillance projects and ensuring that data from monitoring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and emerging pathogens (EPs) are used to inform public policy decisions. We encourage you to attend our info session to learn more about the GeMPaW strategic initiative, and more specifically, the C3 Hub.

Date: June 1, 2023
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm ET
Location: Virtual (Zoom) – Link will follow registration

Register today! Participants interested in attending the info session must first register using the C3 Hub Individual Participation Registration form to receive the Zoom link via email. The deadline for individual registration is May 30, 2023. Registration is now open—please don’t delay.

If you have any questions about this info session or the GeMPaW initiative, please contact Laura Riley, Director, Sector Innovation & Programs, Ontario Genomics at lriley@ontariogenomics.ca.

Ontario Genomics investments drive cutting-edge R&D in health, environmental sustainability and agricultural resilience

April 18, 2023 by ontarioadmin

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced federal support through Genome Canada for three late-stage Ontario Genomics research and development projects tackling major challenges in health, environment and agriculture through genomics.

The Government of Canada, in collaboration with the provincial government, industry and healthcare organizations, as well as other partners, is investing a total of over $16.3 million into Ontario projects out of the $56.7 million funding announced for projects across Canada.

Genomics research is driving innovations and delivering solutions to global challenges like climate change, public health and food security. Ontario\’s robust research ecosystem has developed world-class strength in genomics with major investments over more than 23 years to solidify our position as a world leader in the field.

“Genomics is a key technology that is instrumental in responding to national and global challenges. Projects like the ones announced under the Genome Canada’s Genomics Applications Partnership Program are central to make sure the Canadian research system grow and remain at the forefront globally, leading to more cutting-edge genomics science that delivers real impacts for the health and economic growth of Canadians.”

– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne,
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

The projects announced today will harness cutting-edge genomics science to deliver real-world impacts for healthier, more sustainable and prosperous communities across Ontario. The GAPP program leverages world-leading expertise to accelerate the translation of scientific knowledge into broad economic and societal benefits for Ontario, such as job creation and revenue generation.

“Enabling impact-focused research partnerships between academia, industry, public sector institutions and other partners is a powerful vehicle for generating long-term growth, low-carbon productivity and a healthier future for Canadians. Genome Canada is proud to mark the 10th anniversary of the Genomics Application Partnership Program (GAPP) and invest in our 100th GAPP with the vital support of the Government of Canada.”

– Dr. Rob Annan,
President and CEO, Genome Canada

Ontario Genomics plays a vital role in advancing these projects by supporting the development of their proposals, helping them access diverse funding sources, and finding the right industry partners to take this research out of the lab to apply it to the world’s most pressing challenges. Since its inception in 2000, Ontario Genomics has raised more than $1.27 billion for genomics applied research in Ontario and directly supported more than 9,100 trainees and jobs. We have 110+ active projects, 500+ impactful partnerships and have secured $1.34 billion in follow-on investments.

“Partnerships between the researchers and industry are the cornerstone of Ontario’s thriving innovation community. By supporting the development and uptake of new technologies that provide game-changing solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, Ontario Genomics is helping to nurture healthy people, a healthy economy, and a healthy planet for generations to come.”

– Dr. Bettina Hamelin,
President and CEO, Ontario Genomics.

This investment will support researchers at the Western University, University of Toronto, and Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. In collaboration with industry partners, including Greenlight Biosciences, Inc., Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, Metso-Outotec, and Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health, these genomics-based projects will have real, positive impacts on our healthcare system, as well as the environment.

Marking a decade of impact-focused research investment
The projects announced today are funded through GAPP. Marking its 10th anniversary this year, and its 100th funded project, GAPP leverages world-leading expertise and diversified partnerships to accelerate translation of scientific knowledge into broad economic and societal benefits for Ontario and Canada.

Biopesticide with new modes of action for control of highly polyphagous mite agricultural pests
Receptors: Greenlight Biosciences, Inc. and Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers
This project will develop, register and commercialize RNAi biomiticide (biopesticides specific for mites) against the two-spotted spider mite to effectively manage its outbreaks. This novel biopesticide will not only provide the sector with potential economic benefits of ~$600 million per year, but it will also provide growers with an alternative to synthetic chemical insecticides, thus reducing their environmental footprint.
Developing novel bioleaching process for Ni recovery from pyrrhotite streams
Receptor: Metso-Outotec
This project will use genomics and bioleaching technologies to characterize and engineer microbial populations to treat pyrrhotite tailings, waste streams of current mining practices, for nickel extraction. The extraction of nickel from pyrrhotite tailings in Canada has a potential value of $26 billion, can provide a source of critical minerals for production of electric vehicle batteries, and enable significant (>75%) reduction in waste generation from mining processes.
Enabling personalized genomics in health with the CanPath data safe haven
Receptor: Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health
This project will build upon CanPath’s existing infrastructure to democratize access to the platform, developing a secure environment within which researchers, clinicians and industry in Canada can access deeply characterized population health and biobank data. It will support the development of Canada’s biotechnology sector and industry research as well as creating the ability to harmonize with other national precision medicine programs. The ultimate result will be earlier diagnosis of disease and medical interventions for Canadians.

“Antenna-in-a-cell”: Forest Insect Pest Research and Management

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

Insects damage important crops and forests, and some insect species are responsible for the transmission of disease. If we better understand which compounds mediate the attraction of these insects, we could better control the damage. SPARK funding for this project will help Drs. Daniel Doucet and Jeremy Allison (Great Lakes Forestry Centre) develop the antenna-in-a-cell platform that aims to find physiologically active odorants and understand how they interact with the insects’ odorant receptors (OR). This research holds promise for the development of odorant molecules as operational insect lures.
The project focused the validation of the approach on two invasive insects of critical concern in forestry: the Emerald Ash Borer and the Brown Spruce Longhorned Beetle. The experiments have resulted in the identification of key ORs in both species which will, down the line, aid in the development of optimal odor blends to use against these two insect species.

All Awarded Projects

Drones for Breeding Better White Spruce

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

The field of tree genomics has seen unprecedented advances over the past decade. A suite of next generation genomic resources for improved tree breeding and selection will soon become available to breeders and forest managers, thanks to a project led by Drs. Ingo Ensminger (University of Toronto) and Nathalie Isabel (Forest and Environmental Genomics at Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service (CFS) – Quebec region) in partnership with PrecisionHawk.

An investment by Ontario Genomics through its Pre-Commercialization Business Development Fund (PBDF) will support rapid deployment of a software application to market. The software will allow users to determine the performance of individual trees and forest stands and to assess their phenology and water deficit at various time points in the season.

A team of scientists will use already established white spruce progeny trials in Quebec and Ontario and survey entire populations using a drone carrying optical sensors for leaf spectral measurements. Aerial sampling will be paralleled by leaf level sampling on subsets of seedlings on the ground (30-40 genotypes multiple times per site and year) looking at phenology, hydration level and spectral properties. The team will then develop algorithms for correlating plant phenology, leaf responses to hydration level and genotype information with drone-collected leaf spectral properties.

This survey data will be available to our partner company, PrecisionHawk, to create a software application that will be available to end users via the Algorithm Marketplace― the proprietary “app store” for drone data analysis.

These tools are expected to accelerate breeding cycles, through an innovative approach for large-scale phenotyping of tree responses to drought, monitor phenology, and assess differences between genotypes in large-scale field experiments.

All Awarded Projects

Delivery Strategies and Monitoring Tools for Bioremediation

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

BTEX compounds – benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes – are natural components of crude oil and petroleum and are used in the synthesis of a wide range of useful materials and chemicals. They are also toxic, and benzene in particular is a known human carcinogen. In some mining sites, as a result of extraction, transportation and refining processes, as well as accidental spills and leaks, BTEX compounds frequently pollute groundwater in all industrialized regions of the globe.

In Canada and elsewhere, remediation of contaminated sites is difficult and costly. When possible, affected soils are dug up and treated or disposed of offsite. Dr. Elizabeth Edwards of the University of Toronto is working with SiREM, a Canadian leader in bioremediation, to scale up and commercialize anaerobic bioaugmentation cultures for in situ BTEX remediation. They were awarded $1M for this project led by Ontario Genomics.

All Awarded Projects

Isolating Uranium from Mine Discharge Water

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

Canada is the world’s second largest producer of uranium, and more uranium has been mined in Canada than in any other country (as of 2014). Although current treatment methods meet regulatory requirements for inactive sites, there are opportunities to develop new treatments that achieve consistent effluent quality in a cost-effective and sustainable manner, and which should allow for recovery of uranium and other metals from tailings sites.

One of the largest barriers to treating mine waste using bioremediation has been the challenge in maintaining treatment efficacy. Ontario Genomics is investing seed funding towards the first steps to develop genomics-enabled technology that will do just that.

Drs. Susan Glasauer (University of Guelph) and Nadia Mykytczuk (Laurentian University) are partnering with Denison Environmental and US-based company, Inotec, to develop a microbial electrode technology to sequester uranium from mine tailings and remediate water to discharge standards.

The use of microbial electrodes for the remediation of some elements of concern, such as selenium and arsenic, has already been successfully implemented by Inotec using their electro-biochemical reactor (EBR) technology. With seed funding, the research team will design a system to optimize uranium removal and recovery and perform bench scale testing of the technology using water from a former Uranium mine in Ontario. It is anticipated that this will lead to an improved understanding of the microbial pathways involved in free electron use, which may be applied by the mining industry to sequester uranium for long-term sustainable and cost-effective treatment of sites.

All Awarded Projects

Healthy Plant Growth with Enhanced Nutrition in Soil

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

Natural soil bacteria can play a critical role in plant health. Ontario Genomics is providing seed funding for an academic-industry partnership to identify soil containing these beneficial microorganisms with the goal of enhancing their benefits.

Boreal Agrominerals Inc. (Boreal) specializes in the mining and commercialization of Spanish River Carbonatite (SRC), an agro-mineral fertilizer which promotes soil balance and healthy plant growth. To identify the beneficial microorganisms that facilitate nutrient uptake by native plants and cash crops and to expand the economic potential of its product, Boreal is collaborating with researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University and Algoma University to characterize the distribution of microorganisms naturally found at various mining sites from the SRC deposit, located near Sudbury, Ontario.

The team will further investigate the effects of mining and site characteristics on soil microbial communities based primarily on nutrient solubilisation and plant nutrient availability. Once beneficial microorganisms are identified, Boreal aims to determine the specific functional mechanisms associated with nutrient solubilisation, acquisition, and transfer to plants.

All Awarded Projects

New Model System for Better Crops

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

To improve traits in monocot crops, such as wheat, corn and rice, we need a unique model for both prediction of candidate genes and the validation of effectiveness. Ontario Genomics is providing seed funding for an academic-industry partnership to do just that.

Frontier Agri-Science Inc., an Ontario Agri-Tech company, and Dr. Dario Bonetta (University of Ontario Institute of Technology) are developing and refining Brachypodium as a highly efficient and novel monocot model system for crop development for their industry partner BASF. This project could ultimately lead to the development of plant traits with herbicidal tolerance in key food crops, and a valuable service that Frontier can provide commercially.

This funding has created further opportunities for Frontier to acquire follow-on financing from Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).

All Awarded Projects

Diverse Chemical Libraries

April 17, 2023 by ON Genomics Leave a Comment

Synthetic chemical libraries are a common source of drug discovery molecules. The challenge is that these libraries adhere to synthetic structures and biological activities. By contrast, naturally occurring chemicals have a vast diversity of structure, but their industrial or medical uses are limited due to the complexity and inaccessibility of these natural products.

Drs. Eiji Nambara, Peter McCourt (University of Toronto) and Dario Bonetta (University of Ontario Institute and Technology) plan to take these chemical libraries and expose them to a plethora of plant enzymes to exponentially increase the diversity of compounds with the hope of finding novel functions.

The team is using plant genomics resources to create libraries of various chemical compounds for industrial uses. In an effort to produce the advantages of these two systems, this project aims to set up an enhanced system to evaluate metabolic conversion of diverse chemical library by plant xenobiotic enzymes, which will be useful sources to identify chemicals with new functions.

All Awarded Projects

Funding Opportunity: Announcing the launch of BioCreate Cohort 2

April 17, 2023 by ontarioadmin

Ontario Genomics’ (Cohort 2) is open to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in southern Ontario seeking to commercialize genomics and engineering biology enabled products and/or technologies in the health, food and agriculture, and cleantech sectors at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4+.

BioCreate provides funding, access to mentorship and business support to help companies bring new products and technologies to market.

Program Highlights:

The multi-phase BioCreate program includes direct, non-repayable funding of $150,000 that will be matched by an additional $100,000 (minimum) from participating companies to a total project size of $250,000 or more.
Funded companies will have access to 18 months of intensive business mentorship and access to critical infrastructure provided by Ontario Genomics’ strategic sectoral and regional partnerships.
Each cohort will conclude with an investor showcase, giving the companies an opportunity to pitch to investors and potential partners.

The BioCreate Program will consist of three phases:

Application Steps and Dates

Interested SMEs should submit the initial BioCreate intake form at any time. Following the submission of this form, a representative from the BioCreate team will reach out to discuss your project idea. Eligible applicants will be invited to submit an application.

Interested SMEs should review the Program Guide for more information on the BioCreate program, including eligibility requirements and evaluation criteria.

If you have questions, please contact BioCreate@ontariogenomics.ca.

The deadline to submit an intake form to be considered for Cohort 2 is June 30, 2023. Additional details related to BioCreate and the application process can be .

Complete the intake form now to find out more about your company’s eligibility!

The BioCreate program is supported by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and Ontario Genomics. The current budget is greater than $7 million over five years.

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