Canada is a custodian of approximately 10% of the world’s total forests. Occupying nearly 35% of our land mass, they are an enormous renewable resource of importance for recreation, the environment and the economy. Forests contribute approximately $30 billion dollars annually to Canada; about 10% of all the jobs in Canada are forestry-related. Basil Arif of the Great Lakes Forestry Centre, and Arthur Retnakaran of the Government of Canada used genomics to study one of the most devastating forest-insect pests, the spruce budworm. Their project developed a large body of knowledge about the genomics of spruce budworm and many of its naturally occurring viruses in addition to environmentally friendly methods that use insect viruses to control spruce budworm, and a way to produce large amounts of viral proteins that can be used for further development by the pharmaceutical industry, and veterinary and agricultural agencies.
Read More