Government funding for genomics projects

November 13, 2009

Saskatchewan Agriculture is investing more than $1.8 million in two Genome Prairie projects involving researchers at the U of S.

A media release Oct. 27 said the Value Generation through Genomics (VALGEN) project, co-led by Peter Phillips, professor in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, and David Castle, professor at the University of Ottawa, will receive $680,000. The project is designed to examine the role of intellectual property, study ways of regulating and governing new agricultural innovations, and test engagement tools with the public to determine interests, fears and attitudes toward new technologies.

Gordon Rowland of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources is co-leader of the Total Utilization of Flax Genomics (TUFGEN) project which will receive $1.2 million. The project will investigate flax performance by looking at the DNA sequence of the genome, and develop genetic and physical maps defining the relationship of genes that play a role in flax usefulness. Rowland’s co-leader is Sylvie Cloutier, a researcher with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Winnipeg.