Genome Prairie and Genome Canada have announced a $5.1 million Bison Integrated Genomics (BIG) project to apply new genomics solutions to conserve the Wood Bison, a species of significant symbolic importance, particularly to many Indigenous and First Nations communities. BIG will develop more genome-based diagnostic tools and a combined Brucella/Bovine Tuberculosis vaccine for wood bison (among other BIG goals).

The World Health Organization declared a pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 was spreading through the population, and the systems in place to understand the virus were facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge.  Within weeks, the CanCOGeN project turned Saskatchewan and Manitoba public health laboratories into world-class centres for infectious disease genomics.

Intense genomic research at the University of Saskatchewan Crop Production Centre is helping to keep Canadian pulse producers ahead of intense overseas competition. 

As a part of Genome Canada's All For One initiative, the launch of the Canadian Prairie Metabolic Network has given Canadians hope that advanced genomics testing will provide them with answers and treatment for one of health's most challenging diagnostic conditions: Inborn Errors in Metabolism.

Genome Prairie Announces Launch of $30 Million Pan-Canadian Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative 

The Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems initiative will earmark $30 million in matching funding to support cutting-edge genomic research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s food production system. This exciting initiative will take a first-of-its-kind strategy by mobilizing the collective research knowledge in Canada, including the academic, public, private, industry, and non-profit communities.

The Arctic Ocean has lost, and continues to lose, significant amounts of sea ice due to climate warming. With this comes large increases in ship traffic and the probability of an oil spill. Damage caused by such a spill could have devastating impacts on the local wildlife, food security and human health, particularly to coastal Inuit communities – the segment of Canada’s population that bears the greatest risk related to oil spills in the Arctic. GENICE II is a Large-Scale Applied Research Project funded through Genome Canada and Genome Prairie. Led by Gary Stern and Eric Collins, the GENICE II project team will critically evaluate monitored natural microbial biodegradation as a reliable response to oil spills in an ice-laden Arctic marine environment. 

Researchers Cheryl Waldner and Simon Otto are harnessing genomics to help livestock producers quickly match diseases to the most effective drugs and, in the process, helping to combat a looming threat to animal and human health. “The primary result will be precision use of antibiotics – quick and accessible information for veterinarians to tailor antibiotic therapy for individual pens of calves,” says Waldner.

The Floating Wetland Treatments to Enhance Remediation project addresses cleaning oil spills in sensitive freshwater ecosystems. Genome Prairie is the lead Centre for this project and research is taking place at the IISD – Experimental Lakes Area under the direction of Vince Palace. FLOWTER is funded through the Genomic Applications Partnership Program.