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Genomics plays a vital role in driving Québec's economic future. That is why Génome Québec aims at advancing knowledge in genomics by funding major research projects. In this section, you will discover all the latest achievements in the field of genomics.
Vitamin B12 deficiency: tracking the genetic causes
Aug. 28, 2012
Vitamin B12 is essential to human health. However, some people have inherited conditions that leave them unable to process vitamin B12. As a result they are prone to serious health problems, including developmental delay, psychosis, stroke and dementia. An international research team recently discovered a new genetic disease related to vitamin B12 deficiency by identifying a gene that is vital to the transport of vitamin into the cells of the body. This discovery will help doctors better diagnose this rare genetic disorder and open the door to new treatments. The findings are published in the journal Nature Genetics.
How timber detectives use DNA tests to track the trade in stolen wood
Aug. 22, 2012
Call it CSI: Singapore. But unlike the Crime Scene Investigators from the popular TV series, these detectives are hired to look for evidence of rogue wood from stores increasingly worried about being duped by a global trade in illegal timber now worth billions.
They take wood samples into their lab and put them through DNA tests that can pinpoint the species and origin of a piece of timber. They also track timber and timber products from forest to shop to ensure clients’ shipments are legal.
“This is like CSI meets save the planet,” said Jonathan Geach, executive director of Double Helix Tracking Technologies, the Singapore company that has developed and commercialized DNA testing for wood, the only firm in the world to do so.
Every two seconds, an area of forest the size of a football field is clear-cut by illegal loggers, the World Bank says in a recent study. Annually, such illegally cleared land is equivalent to the size of Ireland.
Coordinated protein breakdown and synthesis: a key to healthy growth of cells
Aug. 21, 2012
A team of researchers led by Prof. Barry Posner of McGill University’s Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism have now, for the first time, been able to show that in order to assure the ongoing supply of amino acids needed for new protein synthesis, growth factors also stimulate a coordinated or regulated increase in protein breakdown within cells to generate free amino acids.
Congratulations to Philip Awadalla who received the 2012 Joe Doupe Young Investigator Award
Aug. 8, 2012
Philip Awadalla, Scientific Director of CARTaGENE, received the 2012 Joe-Doupe Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation.
Canadian Trends in Genomics
Aug. 3, 2012
We invite you to read Biotechnology Focus article on Genomics Trends in Canada. A shift has recently begun to unfold in genomics. After a decade of basic research and discoveries, emphasis is now being placed on innovation in applied research, a phenomenon that is evident throughout the Western world.
Researchers find genetic cause for body tremors
Aug. 3, 2012
Researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine and CHUM hospitals have linked some cases of Essential Tremor (ET) to a specific genetic problem.