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Biotechnology-Based Production of Natural Leaf-aldehyde (2017)

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Overview

Ardra is a specialty chemicals company focused on the production of natural ingredients for the cosmetics and flavour and fragrance industries. Their synthetic biology platform uses designer biochemical pathways to produce a large portfolio of high-value products. The cosmetics and flavour and fragrances industries are dominated by petrochemical-derived ingredients, as natural ingredients have fluctuating and high prices along with seasonal variations. Ardra’s processes use renewable feedstock such as agricultural or forestry biomass, and engineered microbes to allow for low cost production and a steady supply of natural ingredients at a constant price. The investment from Ontario Genomics will advance the development of natural leaf aldehyde, a green leaf volatile used in green apple flavour, and as a scent in perfumery.

Avoiding drug-resistant fungal infections (2018)

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Overview

Toronto start-up Bright Angel Therapeutics is developing novel treatments for fungal diseases, a global public health problem. Data compiled by the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI) show that “over 300 million people are afflicted with a serious fungal infection and 25 million are at high risk of dying or losing their sight.”  Mortality due to fungal infections is primarily due to the development of resistance to the few available anti-fungal compounds. Ontario Genomics’ investment will help Bright Angel Therapeutics develop new compounds that exploit a novel strategy to treat fungal infections. By targeting a stress response mechanism that enables fungi to become drug-resistant, this strategy will transform existing antifungals from ineffective to highly efficacious against all the leading fungal pathogens, enabling the company to tap into the existing very large antifungal market.

Stratifying and targeting pediatric medulloblastoma through genomics (2010)

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Overview

Understanding childhood brain cancer. Brain cancer is the leading cause of pediatric cancer deaths. Children who survive have a much poorer quality of life due to the aggressive treatment used to fight the disease. This results in a staggering burden of suffering for them and their families as well as economic costs of over $100 million annually to the health system. Studies indicate that children with a good prognosis are often over-­treated and could be spared complications by reducing the amount of treatment they receive. At the same time, children with a poor prognosis are often subjected to painful treatments which may, in fact, be futile. With support from Genome Canada, scientists are using genome wide approaches to study medulloblastomas, the most common form of childhood brain cancer, to develop markers that will more accurately classify the tumors for treatment. Researchers are also identifying genetic changes that may reveal the risk factors that predispose children to this type of cancer. As they unravel the genetic basis of brain cancer, the research team is also working with families to determine what additional risks they are willing to assume in reducing therapy to improve quality of life. It is anticipated that the results of this research will lead to new ways to treat childhood brain cancers more effectively and to enhance the quality of life of children struck by this devastating disease. 

Synthetic antibody program: Commercial reagents and novel therapeutics (2010)

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Overview

Cancer is now, or will shortly become, the number one cause of death in developed countries. Hence, there is an obvious and urgent need to accelerate the development and rational application of new therapies. The central premise of our program is that achieving this goal will require the identification of new therapeutic targets, the rapid development of specific and effective drugs directed against these targets, and the testing of these agents in relevant models of human cancer. Over the past decade, recombinant antibodies that target cancer-associated proteins have emerged as one of the most effective and major classes of targeted therapeutics in oncology. Moreover, while the production of small-molecule drugs remains a costly and slow process, technological advances have enabled the development of therapeutic grade antibodies in an academic setting, which now expands the cancer therapeutic domain beyond that of pharmaceutical companies. To take advantage of these new developments, the Donnelly Centre at the University of Toronto has established the Toronto Recombinant Antibody Centre (TRAC), a state-of-the-art antibody platform that can be applied to the generation of therapeutic grade antibodies against hundreds of antigens in a high-throughput pipeline. In turn, the TRAC has partnered with the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) in Vancouver to leverage additional expertise in therapeutic antibody development. Importantly, we have assembled a consortium of leading cancer biologists from the Canadian research community, and together, we have compiled a panel of cancer related proteins that are high-value targets for next-generation cancer therapeutics. Taken together, our program represents a unique and complete platform for the development of antibody therapeutics in a Canadian academic environment. In a three-year framework, we will generate and validate hundreds of antibodies against a host of cancer-associated targets. These antibodies will be powerful tools for discovery research and a significant subset will be candidates for new therapeutic entities. In summary, the program will have major impact on basic research in cancer biology, on therapeutic options for cancer treatment, and on the development of commercial biotechnology in Canada.

NorCOMM2 – In vivo models for human disease & drug discovery (2010)

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Overview

Identification of the genes associated with human disease is essential to the development of new prognostic, diagnostic, and treatment options. However, to understand what happens when genes go wrong, we need to understand the normal function of all our genes. This can’t be done using humans, so experimental models similar to humans in their development, physiology, and disease state that are easy to study and genetically manipulate are needed. The mouse meets these criteria so it is the most widely used animal model in biomedical research today. In fact, 99% of the coding genes (genes that make a protein) present in humans are also present in the mouse. Therefore, the mouse will help us with one of the greatest scientific challenges ahead; to understand the function of each of our 20,000 genes. This is an enormous task and the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium has been formed by scientists in North America, Europe, and Asia to take on the challenge in a coordinated global effort. The Project is made up of a team of Canadian and UK scientists who, over the next three years, will use publicly available resources to study the developmental problems and diseases that occur in 280 mouse models. Each of these models contains one mutated gene (different in each model) that no longer works or only partly works. The differences in the mutant models compared to normal mice will help us determine the function of that gene. This Project will represent a significant contribution by Canadian scientists to the international effort. We will use clinical tests like those used for humans (e.g. blood work, X-ray) to determine the effect of each mutation and whether the gene or the protein it produces could be a drug target or used in a diagnostic test. Our Canadian group brings specialized expertise to examine mutations in genes that cause embryonic death as well as world-leading experience in pathology screening for disease. Our team includes social scientists who will examine how this and other international research efforts can best be managed and share data and other resources to increase their real-world impacts. The global effort to understand the function of every gene is a huge project that will take the next 10 years to complete. Canada has a critical role to play. Like our UK partners, we have expertise and state-of-the-art facilities that have enabled us to establish a leadership position in this field. The knowledge generated and new discoveries made in this Project will enable the development of new drugs and new therapies by Canadian researchers in academia and the biopharmaceutical industry. Our Project has already partnered with drug discovery scientists at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and commercialization partners at MaRS Innovation in Toronto to create an opportunity to attract contract research to Canada and support Canadian companies that can capitalize on the mouse models that we generate. www.NorCOMM2.org 

Biomonitoring 2.0: A high-throughput genomics approach to comprehensive biological assessment of environmental change (2010)

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Overview

Sustainable development of the Canadian economy requires wise stewardship of our environment and natural resources; this is particularly true given the anticipated impacts of climate change. Biomonitoring seeks to describe and understand biological diversity at multiple ecological levels, both as a means to learn the typical mix of species that can be found in different habitats, and to establish “biological early-warning systems” that can tell us when environmental stresses are reaching a critical point. Canada is recognized as a world leader in biomonitoring, however, current practices have limitations.  They are personnel-intensive, which limit the frequency and intensity of sampling, particularly in remote areas. Also, present biomonitoring methodologies focus on a very limited subset of all species that can be found at a given location. Our project introduces ‘Biomonitoring 2.0’, a system based on cutting-edge DNA-sequencing technologies and state-of-the-art computational analysis, which will simultaneously reduce sample costs while dramatically increasing the knowledge gained from biological samples. Our test bed for this new system is Wood Buffalo National Park, a globally unique region spanning Alberta and the North West Territories that is under considerable threat from oil sands activities and other human impacts, in spite of its remoteness and protected status. By integrating our new genomics tools and technologies into a well-established Canadian biomonitoring framework, we will greatly increase our potential to manage our cherished national resources. The project team has been working closely with stakeholders including industry, government departments, First Nations and Métis, and environmental organizations. By developing a sophisticated, yet user-friendly Web-based portal, with client-based customized tools, we will be able to communicate much richer summaries of environmental health and impacts to society, through direct interactions with local stakeholders. www.biomonitoring2.org

FISHES: Fostering Indigenous Small‐scale fisheries for Health, Economy, and food Security (2018)

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Overview

The FISHES project will develop and apply genomic approaches in concert with Traditional Ecological Knowledge to address critical challenges and opportunities related to food security and commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries of northern Indigenous Peoples in Canada (Inuit, Cree and Dené communities). The project will develop genomic resources for six species important to northern communities and use these resources to identify genetically distinct populations, assess their vulnerability to future climatic conditions, quantify their contributions to mixed‐population harvests, and measure the contribution of fish from developing hatchery programs to subsistence harvests. FISHES will support the co‐generation of knowledge to foster the development and co‐management of sustainable fisheries and will also contribute to our ability to forecast the response of key fisheries to rapid global and socio‐economic changes in northern Indigenous communities.

4DWheat: Diversity, Discovery, Design and Delivery (2018)

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Overview

Wheat is the most important crop for current and future global food security, as it supplies the most calories and proteins to the global population. Wheat is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop. Meeting the challenge of increasing wheat production to match the growing demand for food over the next 20–30 years is of paramount importance. Current yield gains (~0.67% per year) are impressive but will not meet the need (1.6-1.8%) of a growing global population and may become unsustainable due to lack of new genetic diversity. 4DWheat will apply the very latest in genomic strategies to address this gap by focusing on two major challenges: enhancing yield and managing producer risk to important diseases. 4DWheat will apply cutting-edge genomics for “harnessing Diversity, advancing Domestication, enabling Discovery, and expediting Delivery” of new sources of genetic variation. Applying genomic tools will result in strategies to fully capture diversity in wheat breeding. The project will also quantify the current and future value of wheat genetic resources and examine regulatory networks to promote their utilization using new breeding technologies.

Integrating genomic approaches to improve dairy cattle resilience: A comprehensive goal to enhance Canadian dairy industry sustainability (2018)

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Overview

Dairy is one of Canada’s most important and dynamic industries. In 2015, the dairy sector contributed roughly $19.9 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). This project aims to use genomic tools to develop new datasets and genomic tools in order to develop a more ‘resilient’ cow, i.e. an animal able to adapt rapidly to changing environmental conditions, without compromising its productivity, health or fertility. A set of new genomic breeding tools for the dairy producers and the artificial insemination industry will be implemented based on a novel selection index for resilience, which will include novel traits related to fertility, health and environmental efficiency (feed efficiency and methane emission). The new index for resilience will allow farmers to reduce costs related to poor cow fertility, diseases and animal feed, and a more accurate selection for increased fertility, broader disease resistance and environmental efficiency. This will result in benefits, not only to Canada’s dairy industry, but will help address global food security and sustainability.

GEN-FISH: Genomic Network for Fish Identification, Stress and Health (2018)

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Overview

Freshwater fish resources contribute to Canada’s economy both directly and indirectly. Thriving  freshwater fish resources are the lifeblood of many rural, northern and Indigenous communities and are central to the social and cultural lives of millions of Canadians. Yet, freshwater fish stocks are under threat. Canadian freshwater fish stocks need science-based monitoring and management. The logistical difficulties of monitoring fish stocks in Canada’s 2+ million lakes and countless rivers are compounded by the limitations of conventional sampling methods, which provide only a snapshot. The project will use genomic approaches to develop a Fish Survey Toolkit based on environmental DNA from water samples and a Fish Health Toolkit that will provide quantitative assessments of the health of fish and the stressors they face. Collectively, these toolkits will enable a complete and accurate assessment of the status of Canada’s freshwater fish resources and save millions of dollars for government, NGOs, fish culture facilities, and environmental consultants in fish survey costs, and will result in additional indirect savings through more effective and directed management actions. Furthermore, and most importantly, the project will ensure sustainability of Canada’s freshwater fish resources for generations to come.