Biotechnology Focus July/August 2010 by Promotive Communications

INSIGHTS FOR THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY

JULY/AUGUST 2010 VOLUME 13, NUMBER 7

WORLD HUNGER SOLUTIONS

CAN AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND GENOMICS HELP SOLVE WORLD HUNGER?

Publication Mail Registration Number: 40052410

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contents

Using biotechnology to assist in feeding increasing world population.

FEATURES

July/August 2010 – VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 7

12 ABIC 2010

14 Opinion

SOLVING WORLD HUNGER

Through plant breeding techniques and genomics tools, new, more nutritious crop varieties are being developed.

Saskatoon prepares to host agricultural biotechnology’s biggest show. (By Shawn Lawrence)

14 WORLD HUNGER ISSUES

Can agricultural biotechnology and genomics research tools help solve the world hunger crisis? (By Carol Reynolds)

18 DNA BASED TECHNOLOGY

Developing DNA-based technology to identify wheat classes and varieties. (By Kimberly Bryce)

BIOCHAR AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Using old and new technologies to solve today’s problems. (By Dr. Miguel Providenti)

26 DEPARTMENTS 6

Research news

Business corner

28 Calendar of events 30 The Last Word

6 R&D News

GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING Current concepts and future directions. (By Ali Riazi and Sara Arab)

IN EVERY ISSUE

24 INNOVATOR

Will Rowe, CEO and president, Nutrasource Diagnostics tackles the issue of preventative healthcare. (By Tim Bryant)

Investment support for the development and operation of TRIUMF’s Advanced Rare IsotopeE Laboratory www.bioscienceworld.ca

JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 3

PUBLISHER’S NOTE PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SENIOR WRITER STAFF WRITER

INTERN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Biomass pilot project gets a helping hand from the feds to the tune of $2.4M

he federal government is looking for farmers willing to participate in a pilot study on the feasibility of growing biomass fuels. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has earmarked $2.4 million in funding for an intense three-year study of growing biomass fuels. The project will require 900 acres of farmland. At the end of the day, the project is hoping to establish once and for all the viability of biomass fuels as an alternative to burning coal in Ontario Power Generation stations. The study will be overseen by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association. This study proves even more important as the McGuinty government is committed to ending the use of coal in places such as the Nanticoke Generating Station, which at one point was responsible for producing a whooping 20 per cent of the province’s electricity. Alternate sources are most definitely needed if this plant does in fact close down. There’s also the fact that there is a significant potential market for biomass at OPG’s coal-burning station in Lambton. OFA president Bette Jean Crews recently stated that “Ontario farmers have the ability to offer green energy solutions and OFA is ensuring they have a role in the replacement of fuel, earning acceptable returns in doing so.” Another goal of the project is to determine which plants produce the best quality and most abundant biomass per acre. Funds will also be used to perform experiments on converting biomass into pellets or briquettes suitable for OPG consumption. So where is the funding coming from? It’s being derived from the five-year, $163 million Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). The feds have put the fund in place to help Canadian farmers adjust their practices as the market changes. Jim Rickard, chair of the Agricultural Adaptation Council stated, “Funding for this innovative project will better prepare Ontario farmers to make informed decisions regarding the production of purpose-grown biomass as a viable commercial crop option.” He added that this is in fact the largest contribution the AAC has delivered under the CAAP and it is expected the results from this project will be transformative to Ontario’s agriculture and agrifood industry.

Terri Pavelic Tonya Costoff Shawn Lawrence Chris Rogers Tim Bryant Sara Arab

Kimberly Bryce

John Kelly, Ph.D

Darcy R. Pawlik

Dr. Miguel Providenti

Carol Reynolds

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Najla Guthrie, KGK Synergize; Pierre Bourassa, IRAP, Montreal; Brad Guthrie, Alberta Advanced Education and Technology; Carol Reynolds, Genome Prairie; Ulli Krull, UTM; John Kelly, Erie Innovation and Commercialization; Peter Pekos, Dalton Pharma Services; Brad Thompson, Oncolytics; Darrell Ethell, CanReg; John Hylton, John H. Hylton & Associates; Robert Foldes, Mentis Partners; Colette Rivet, BioTalent; Grant Tipler, RBC; Randal R.Goodfellow, P.Ag., Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, Ensyn; Bob H. Sotiriadis, LLB,a partner with Leger Robic Richard; Dale Patterson, The Bourton Group; Darcy Pawlik, Syngenta Seeds Canada Inc; Gail Garland, OBIO; Barry Gee, LifeSciences British Columbia Biotechnology Focus is published 10 times per year by Promotive Communications Inc. 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, Ontario L4G 4B6 Phone 905-727-3875 Fax 905-727-4428 www.bioscienceworld.ca E-mail: biotechnology_focus@promotive.net Subscription rate in Canada $35/year; USA $60/year; other countries $100/year. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Publications Mail Registration Number: 40052410 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: circulation dept – 24-4 Vata Court, Aurora, Ontario L4G 4B6 PAP Registration No. 10952 National Library of Canada ISSN 1486-3138 \ All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any person or organization associated with the magazine.

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4 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/ AUGUST 2010

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R & D NEWS Former Queen’s University head of family medicine is named to the Order of Canada

Walter Rosser

Walter Rosser, has been cited for his leadership in the area of family medicine and primary care research and for his contributions to the establishment of practicebased research networks in Canada. Rosser stepped down as head of the department three years ago and is now semi-retired. In 1994, Dr. Rosser helped with the idea of creating family health teams, which now serve two million patients. He also helped establish practice-based research networks across Canada. While most illnesses are ad-

dressed and dealt with at family practices, data about those ailments wasn’t being recorded or shared until four years ago. “I don’t think there is a higher award you can get in the country,” Dr. Rosser said. Established in 1967, the Order of Canada recognizes Canadians for outstanding lifetime achievements. New appointments are made twice yearly with award ceremonies taking place three times a year. Over the last 40 years, more than 5,000 people have been invested into the order.

New studies show DIABETIONOL ™ has a role on glycemic control Two studies recently published by the Journal of Functional Foods, sponsored by KGK Synergize Inc., (KGK) evaluated the safety and efficacy of DiabetinolTM, a proprietary ingredient, in both an in vivo and a human clinical study. The results of the in vivo study demonstrated that Diabetinol™ did not produce any adverse effects in a fructoseinduced hamster model and showed improvement in blood glucose, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides. In a human clinical study conducted by SIBR Research Inc., located in Florida, it was demonstrated that the use of Diabetinol™ over a three-month period, was safe and effective in significantly reducing glucose intolerance in subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG), who were also taking oral medication. Diabetinol™ significantly reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and decreasing trends in HbA1c were also observed. The data suggests that Diabetinol™ as a natural food product may have protective effects in individuals with a combined IFG and hyperlipidemia. Dr. Mal Evans, KGK’s scientific director stated, “This study has demonstrated an important role for Diabetinol™ as a novel ingredient in glycemic control. Diabetinol™ may aid in the management of risk factors in subjects with IFG who are taking oral medication, two very exciting discoveries.”

6 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

TRIUMF Laboratory. Photo: Gerard Laman

Investment support for the development and operation of TRIUMF’s Advanced Rare IsotopeE Laboratory The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway and president of the Treasury Board, announces a contribution to Canada’s national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics research. “Our government is supporting science and technology to improve the quality of life of Canadians, create jobs and strengthen the economy,” said Minister Day. “This investment, as part of the Economic Action Plan, will support world-leading research and provide opportunities to bring new innovations to the marketplace so that Canadians and people around the world can benefit.” “World-class research facilities provide researchers with the tools they need

to succeed,” said the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology). “The ARIEL facility is a great achievement for Vancouver, and for all of Canada.” The government is set to invest $14 million to support the development and operation of ARIEL, the Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory at TRIUMF. This investment is in fact part of the government’s five year, $222 million commitment to TRIUMF made in Budget 2010: Leading the Way on Jobs and Growth. TRIUMF is located on the University of British Columbia’s campus. It combines physicists and interdisciplinary talent, technical resources and commercial partners.

Dr. J. Graham Cogley

R & D NEWS

Intergovernmental panel on climate change selects Trent University Geography professor as expert Trent University physical geographer Dr. J. Graham Cogley is one of 831 experts from around the world to be selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to be a main contributor for the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report,

due out in 2013/14. The IPCC has selected a final list of coordinating lead authors and review editors to provide contributions to the Synthesis report to be finalized and published in 2014. The team of specialists, including professor Cogley and comprising 831 international climate change experts, will dedicate almost four years to three working groups of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). As a lead author, Cogley has been assigned the task of assessing the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, negative and positive consequences of climate change and options for adapting to it. He will also consider the interrelationship between vulnerability, adaptation and sustainable development. In March 2010, the IPCC received ap-

proximately 3,000 nominations for each of the coveted positions. The Bureau held a conference in May 2010 to allow for three working groups to present their selected authors and review editors for AR5. Each of the selected scientists, specialists and experts was nominated in accordance with IPCC procedures, by respective national IPCC Focal Points, approved observer organizations, or by the Bureau itself. Two Trent University alumni were also chosen by the IPCC as contributors to the AR5. Dr. Terry Prowse, who received a Master of Science in Watershed Ecosystems from Trent, will contribute to the review as a lead author and Dr. Mike Brklacich, who received a Bachelor of Science in Geography degree from Trent, is charged with the role of a review editor. Dr. Prowse is currently a professor and chair in Climate Impacts on Water Resources in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria and Environment Canada and Dr. Brklacich is the chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Patheon ranked as top contract development and manufacturing organization Patheon has been ranked as a top global contract development and manufacturing organization. PharmSource®, a respected independent pharmaceutical research organization, recently published a study

looking at the number of FDA new drug approvals (NDAs and BLAs) which were outsourced by sponsor companies and subsequently launched. The study found that Patheon had the highest number of new

drugs overall, and by far the highest number of solid dose drugs over the past four and a half years. The study was conducted independently by PharmSource® and was not commissioned by Patheon.

Great People. Great Chemistry.

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R & D NEWS New appointments to Genome Prairie’s board of directors

John Cross

Kutty Kartha

Two new members have been appointed to the Genome Prairie board of directors. Both members have been appointed for threeyear terms. The announcement was made at a recent annual meeting of members. John Cross is the board chair of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA). He has been in the field of biotechnology since 1965, when he worked as a chemical engineer in the Food Research and Development Department at John Labatt Ltd. In 1975, he served as a founding director of POS Pilot Plant Corporation in Saskatoon. Starting in 1980, Cross spent 27 years with Saskatoon-based Philom Bios Inc. as a founding partner, president, CEO and chairman. Cross currently sits on a number of many boards, including the Royal University Hospital Foundation, the POS Pilot Plant Corporation and

the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). Kutty Kartha is internationally recognized for his work in wheat biotechnology, including the development of methods for the production and evaluation of new genetic lines of wheat. He has made seminal contributions in developing techniques for eliminating viral pathogens from a number of crop plants and also in developing methods for the long-term storage of such material (germplasm) in liquid nitrogen. Educated in India, he received his PhD in virology (with a specialization in plant pathology) at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi. In 1973, Kutty came to the National Research Council - Plant Biotechnology Institute (NRC-PBI) in Saskatoon as a visiting scientist and has since held several prestigious roles with the organization, including director general. In addition, Arnold Naimark and Digvir Jayas have had their terms renewed for an additional three years. Gerald Brown, Lyle Merrell, Karen Chad, David Gauthier, Grant Pierce, Ian Smith and Dale Patterson continue to serve as members of the board of directors.

Jim Prentice

Federal government invests in new Alberta clean energy project

The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announces that Great Northern Power Corp. will receive up to $4.5 million in funding through the federal government’s Clean Energy Fund for its demonstration project of converting waste heat from industrial engines into power. The project is also receiving $2 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s (SDTC) SD Tech Fund™.

8 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS

JULY/AUGUST 2010

Minister Prentice also highlighted a contribution of $40 million for 18 projects under Round 16 of the SD Tech Fund. The technology in this project will recover waste heat from reciprocating engines operating at compressor stations and remote off-grid power generators. It will then generate electricity, which displaces fossil fuel combusted by the engine, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs. As part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Clean Energy Fund is investing $795 million over five years in clean energy technology development and demonstration. The government’s support will help launch close to 20 projects under the renewable and clean energy portion of the Clean Energy Fund, totalling up to $146 million. Three carbon capture and storage projects have also been announced, totalling $466 million from the fund.

Clinical Trials & Patents n Miraculins Inc. (Winnipeg, MB) announces that the United States Patent Trademark Office has issued US Patent 7,754,495 entitled “Methods for Early Diagnosing of an Increased Risk of Preeclampsia”. The issued patent is an addition to Miraculins’ portfolio of issued and pending patents protecting markers in its preeclampsia program, including Endoglin, the lead marker in the program. Miraculins’ preeclampsia program is being advanced in partnership with the Biosite division of Inverness Medical Innovations. The issued patent is based on the research of Dr. Isabella Caniggia of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Miraculins has a world-wide license with Mount Sinai Hospital for the rights to the patent families of Dr. Caniggia, which cover a suite of 35 novel biomarkers involved in the development of the placenta and the biology implicated in the development of preeclampsia, a debilitating and potentially fatal complication of pregnancy. n Theratechnologies (Montreal, QC) announces the publication of the article entitled, Effects of Tesamorelin (TH9507), a Growth Hormone-Releasing Factor Analog, in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients with Excess Abdominal Fat: A Pooled Analysis of Two Multicenter, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Trials with Safety Extension Data. The article has been made available on the website of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (http:// jcem.endojournals.org) prior to its print publication. The article outlines a pooled analysis of two Phase 3 studies of tesamorelin for the treatment of excess abdominal fat in HIVinfected patients with lipodystrophy. n Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (Quebec City, QC) announces that its partner, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. has been granted orphandrug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for perifosine, Aeterna Zentaris’ novel, potentially first-in-class, oral Akt inhibitor, for the treatment of neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the nervous system affecting mostly children and infants for which there are no FDA approved therapies. Keryx is Aeterna Zentaris’ partner and licensee for perifosine in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Aeterna Zentaris has also out-licensed perifosine to Handok in South Korea, while retaining rights for the rest of the world. The Phase 1 data of perifosine in recurrent pediatric solid tumours, including neuroblastoma, were presented last month in the pediatric solid tumour poster discussion session held at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

BUSINESS CORNER BioMS Medical becomes Medwell Capital Corp. BioMS Medical Corp. announces that it has changed its name to Medwell Capital Corp. Shares of Medwell will now trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the new symbol ‘MWC’. The name change was approved by shareholders at the company’s annual meeting held at the end of June. Medwell Capital Corp. is a Canadian-based service provider in the healthcare industry.

MethylGene extends collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceutical MethylGene Inc. releases that Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has further extended its funded research collaboration with MethylGene for the development of novel, small molecule kinase inhibitors for the local delivery and treatment of ocular diseases, excluding cancer, to the end of June 2011. In April 2010, MethylGene announced that the collaboration was extended through September 2010. This new extension will provide an additional US$1.27 million to MethylGene in research funding. This funding is in addition to the US$705,000 in funding previously announced by the company on April 23, 2010. Under this research collaboration, MethylGene is entitled to receive up to approximately US$50.5 million in milestone payments, as well as royalties on net sales of any resulting product. The first milestone payment of US$1.5 million would be received upon the commencement of the first GLP toxicity study by Otsuka.

Amorﬁx and QED Bioscience form agreement Amorfix Life Sciences and QED Bioscience form an agreement to develop high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against a number of targets for cancer. Under the agreement, QED will generate monoclonal antibodies against several disease specific epitopes (DSE’s) on misfolded CD38 protein. The DSE’s were identified by Amorfix using its proprietary ProMISTM computational platform discovery technology.

Amorﬁx Life Sciences and reMYND form testing services agreement Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. and reMYND NV sign a partnership agreement to offer the Amorix A4 amyloid testing service to reMYND’s contract research clients. ReMYND’s contract research business offers preclinical in-vivo efficacy, pharmacokinetic and safety testing of experimental Alzheimer therapies using proprietary mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. “We are pleased to be working with reMYND to offer our A4 services to their clients, together providing a comprehensive solution to assess efficacy of drug candidates for treating AD using their proprietary models” said Vigen Nazarian, vice president of Strategic Alliances for Amorfix. “This partnership is an important first step to accessing new clients as we build our AD services business.” “The Amorfix A4 assay has demonstrated its ability to detect beta-amyloid aggregates much earlier than other methods, hence giving our clients valuable information as to the effectiveness of their AD drugs in development” said Dr. An Tanghe, contract research manager of reMYND. “The highly sensitive A4 assay detects aggregated Abeta in the brains of our Alzheimer transgenic mice before plaque formation, and thus coinciding with their early onset and clearly pre-plaque cognitive impairment. This is especially intriguing in the light of findings that soluble Abeta oligomers are significantly elevated in the brain of AD patients and correlate with cognitive decline.”

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JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 9 PM 7/2/2010 12:52:57

BUSINESS CORNER DiTEBA Research Laboratories and Thesis Chemistry to collaborate DiTEBA Research Laboratories Inc. and Thesis Chemistry Inc. announce a collaboration that will bring together their technical expertise in process chemistry, cGMP chemical production and analytical testing to more comprehensively and efficiently serve the global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. Thesis Chemistry offers contract R&D chemistry services and fine chemical manufacture and will offer expertise in innovative process R&D, custom synthesis and cGMP production of preclinical drug candidates, advanced chemical intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Meanwhile, DiTEBA Research Laboratories will offer a broad spectrum of cGMP and GLP analytical testing services and will bring to the table analytical methods development and validation, quality control testing, stability storage and testing and bioequivalence/bioavailability studies. “This collaboration demonstrates DiTEBA’s desire to put forward a broader, integrated chemistry solution in response to our customers’ active ingredient and intermediate synthesis needs,” said Dmitry Baranov, president of DiTEBA Research Laboratories. “Thesis Chemistry is recognized as offering the highest-quality contract chemistry services.”

Monsanto gets green light to expand seed manufacturing facility Monsanto Canada announces it will invest more than $14 million to expand and upgrade its existing seed manufacturing facility in Lethbridge, AB. The investment focuses on expanding the company’s hybrid seed processing operation and will include plans for a new

cleaning plant and expanded bulk storage. The company’s hybrid canola seed production team of nine employees in Lethbridge is responsible for managing the production of over 10,000 acres of Monsanto’s branded hybrid canola seed production in southern Alberta.

Construction is planned to start in early September. The investment will bring this portion of the company’s seed processing under one roof and eliminate the need to utilize outside see cleaners. The completion date is expected to be August 2011.

Dealmakers n Ocean Nutrition Canada (ONC) (Dartmouth, NS) announces the acquisition of the exclusive global marketing and distribution rights to GAT Food Essentials (GAT) Omega-3 microencapsulation-emulsion technology. As well, ONC acquired all GAT’s existing, global Omega-3 customer base, which includes customers in Australia, Europe, North America and South America. The food companies currently using GAT’s “wowCAPS®” technology for Omega-3 will now benefit from using ONC’s MEG-3® fish oil, the most trusted source of Omega-3 EPA and DHA, while using the same proven microencapsulationemulsion technology they have been using in the past. n Miraculins Inc. (Winnipeg, MB) has granted an aggregate of 1,850,000 stock options at an exercise price of $0.14 per common share, to the president and CEO, a consultant and certain directors of the company. The options are set to expire five years from the date of grant and are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and the terms of Miraculins’ stock option plan. In accordance with securities regulatory requirements, any shares issued pursuant to the exercise of such options will be subject to a resale restriction for a period of four months from the date of the grant.

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n Therapure Biopharma Inc. (Toronto, ON) will provide development services for DiaMedica Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company based in Winnipeg, MN. Under the terms of the agreement, Therapure will provide cell line development and protein production services to support clinical development for one of DiaMedica’s products, a protein which may be used for the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders. “We are proud to have been chosen by DiaMedica as its partner to provide cell line development protein production services,” said Thomas Wellner, president and CEO of Therapure. “Therapure has performed similar services for a number of clients and has demonstrated market leading expertise.”

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By: Shawn Lawrence

AGBIOTECH

All eyes on Saskatoon as ABIC comes home

The Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC), a made in Canada event, has returned to its birthplace, beautiful Saskatoon, SK. Taking place September 12th to September 15th at TCU place, ABIC is an international conference devoted to science and business development in agbiotech, where scientific and industry leaders gather from all over the world to address agricultural biotechnology and its impact on world agriculture from meeting the growing demand for food and feed production, to the development of sustainable biofuels. “It is exciting to have ABIC back in Saskatoon for 2010 because it is a time when our agbiotech community is experiencing a rebirth. The age of genomics, market demand for green products and global concern about climate change has created a new energy in our scientific and business community,” states ABIC Foundation chair, Jerome Konecsni. This enthusiasm is reinforced says Konecsni by unprecedented spirit of collaboration 12 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

and a collective determination to seize a unique opportunity brought about by what has been described as the “perfect storm” of global challenges. As the first president of Ag-West Biotech and now the co-chair of the ABIC Sponsorship committee, Dr. Murray McLaughlin knows the history of the conference and understands the significance of it being back in Saskatoon. Through Ag-West Biotech (now Ag-West Bio, was the founder of the ABIC conference series), he was personally instrumental in getting ABIC off the ground. “There really wasn’t a conference around agriculture and biotechnology that looked at it from a global perspective. We felt it was time to develop a conference or establish an international conference for agriculture, that’s what we structured for the first conference in 1996 and it just kind of built from there,” he said. The ABIC Conference was started in 1996 in Saskatchewan. Following on the success of the 1996 conference, a second conference in 1998 led to the formation of the ABIC Foundation. The Foundation was set up to ensure continued success of the ABIC series, and, to ensure ongoing opportunities for continuous learning and networking within the international agbiotech community. Since then, the conference has been held in Toronto (2000); Saskatoon (2002); Cologne, Germany (2004);

Melbourne, Australia (2006); Cork, Ireland (2008); and more recently in Bangkok, Thailand (2009). In response to requests to hold the conference on an annual basis, the conference ended its biannual circuit, and became an annual event beginning with the 2006 conference. “Having the 10th conference here, I think it’s nice to see where we were in the mid90’s when we were first really talking about biotechnology and what the opportunities were going to be, to how it is now where biotechnology has really taken over the farming crops that we grow, and we just continue to see a lot more knowledge, a lot more capabilities and information out there today by using the tools of biotechnology that 16 years ago we probably wouldn’t have even dreamt. Technology today has allowed us to move much more rapidly.” He adds that getting it back into Saskatoon, is a way to let the people of Saskatoon and of Saskatchewan know that this conference that was established in the community is alive and well and making things in the agricultural community better because of it. “We’re definitely seeing a conference that was established here in Canada become a global phenomenon.” Not surprisingly, due to its Canadian heritage ABIC conferences continue to enjoy strong representation from Canada in terms of its delegates and have continued to strengthen ties within the Canadian agbio sector. The ABIC Foundation remains incorporated in Saskatchewan, and its board is made up of Canadian directors who are able to keep strong ties with Canada. At the same time, the conference continues to build its international flavour by drawing in international directors from the regions where an ABIC conference has been held, or will be held. “I think if you look at Canada from the agricultural side, we definitely are a leader, and this conference has helped in bringing it all together,” states Dr. McLaughlin. “We’ve built up a strong base on both the crop side and animal side.” ABIC 2010 co-chair, president and CEO of Ag-West Bio, Wilf Keller echoes McLaughlin’s thoughts. “The conference has strong ties to Canada, and to Saskatoon. It’s definitely an indication of where we rank globally in the agbiotech sector. We are very much a leader, and you only have to look at the ag-bio cluster we have here in Saskatoon. I think Canada has embraced new crop technologies such as GMO crops; we’re among the leaders in acreage and one of the major players in this new technology. We’ve certainly embraced

AGBIOTECH “It is exciting to have ABIC back in Saskatoon for 2010 because it is a time when our agbiotech community is experiencing a rebirth. The age of genomics, market demand for green products and global concern about climate change has created a new energy in our scientific and business community.” – Jerome Konecsni

diagnostics, new ag-bio genetics, and new ways of evaluation. I think Canada is highly regarded for its agricultural production system and the science and the quality that’s behind it,” states Keller. “Moreover, a conference like this certainly wants to get the message out there that agriculture is a significant economic driver in this country and globally, in terms of GDP and in potential. The voting public is not very familiar and agriculture is not understood as a high level intensive technological advanced industry that contributes in a major way through high quality foods at every level, be they animal or plant derived. But, Canada has a tremendous reputation in this space, it is a major exporter, the food industry itself is well over $100 billion, canola alone is a $14 billion industry and we need to do a better job of selling this to the voting public. I believe we have to put more attention at the food end as opposed to commodity crop end. Promoting Canadian products, sending a message and having it translate or feed back to where those products come from, that’s the way to go. Hopefully the health pillar we have this year will go a long way to address that.” The city of Saskatoon and the province are also fully behind the conference’s objectives as well as its success. The Premier of Saskatchewan, the Honourable Brad Wall, will participate in the opening ceremonies of the conference on Monday September 13th. Both levels of government have provided welcoming letters to delegates, which will be included in the final program. The Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Agency is involved, as well as the Saskatoon Chamber. These groups are working with the organizing committees in various capacities. “We strive here on the prairies to really work hard in a cooperative mode to bring people together, to provide a venue, to provide a program that’s attractive and you get more value than what you read on the program,” states Keller. As for the programs and themes, ABIC managing director Muriel Adams explains there are many. “With every ABIC Conference, the goal is

to increase awareness within a region. For 2010, the goal is to increase the awareness of Canada as a leading-edge centre for biotechnology, genomics and commercialization among key international ag-bio contacts; to highlight research excellence and infrastructure; and to generate positive out-of-country interest in Canada as a place to do business,” states Adams. “ABIC is more than a showcase - ABIC Conferences bring together knowledge from industry, government and academics and provides a forum for creating dialogue, aiming to enhance science and business intelligence which in turns leads to identification of opportunities and innovation,” she adds. In choosing Bridging Biology and Business as the theme for this, its 10th event, Adams says the Steering Committee intends on putting further emphasis on this fact as the conference looks to address ag-bio and its impact on world agriculture – from meeting the growing demand for food and feed production to the development of sustainable biofuels – to the economic impact now, and over the coming years. “The goals of the conference are really reflected in the main theme of ABIC 2010, bridging biology and business,” adds Ron Kehring, ABIC 2010 Program Committee chair and manager, Biofuels and Bioproducts at Enterprise Saskatchewan. “The fact is science doesn’t operate in isolation from the economy, it’s not disconnected from other factors that include quality of life, environment impact, the real role of science and technology through commercialization, and as such we’re trying to create a stronger bridge between the ag-bio industry and the ag-bio research community. For this reason, this year probably has a stronger industrial flavour to it than the past couple conferences.” In all, ABIC 2010 features a dynamic line up of 66 expert session speakers, a public forum and five keynote presentations over the course of the conference. There will be a welcome reception on Sunday, a networking event on Monday evening and a gala event on Tuesday where organizers will announce the location of ABIC 2013.

On Monday, the opening keynote speaker, Dr. John E. Hamer, managing director Malaysia, Latin America, Burrill & Company will deliver: “Agricultural Biotechnology and the Next 10 years: An Investors Perspective.” “Dr. Hamer / Burrill & Company were chosen to discuss investment opportunities and risks in agbio and provide the audience with perspective for the coming 10 years,” says Adams. Dr. Hamer will be followed by Julian Cribb, specialist in Science Communication, Australia, on the topic: “The Coming Famine: Risks and Solutions for Global Food Security.” According to Adams, Cribb, a controversial presenter, was chosen to encourage discussion and keep the debate going over the risks and solutions. On Tuesday, the opening keynote speaker is Dr. Prem Warrior, Gates Foundation, delivering a presentation entitled: “Agbiotech: The Global Sustainability Challenge.” Following Dr. Warrior, Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech Center for Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, takes the discussions further with his presentation entitled: “The role of Biotechnology in Nutrition and Food Security.” On Wednesday, the conference continues with addressing environmental sustainability through biotechnology with keynote speaker: Dr. Clive James, chairman ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications). A closing plenary session is currently being considered, which will tie all of the presentations together with: “The Global Challenges ahead in Energy, Security and Food.” In addition, as of July 17, there are over 31 international companies registered to attend this year’s conference. Organizers have a target of 1,000 participants, with more than 100 private sector organizations involved.

For more Agbiotech information visit our Natural Health Products Web Portal at www.bioscienceworld.ca JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 13

By Carol Reynolds

AGBIOTECH

World Hunger

solUtIons: AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND PLANT GENOMICS

The Problem:

The Solution: Can agricultural biotechnology and genomics research tools help solve the world hunger crisis? Through plant breeding techniques and genomics tools, new, more nutritious crop varieties are being developed, allowing for the cultivation of crops across different regions in various soil conditions. New crop varieties also have the potential to mitigate losses brought on by disease and climate change effects.

The past decade has brought a surge of plant genomics and agricultural biotechnology research activity in Canada. Genome Canada, Genome Prairie, Genome Alberta and other organizations have provided leadership and support in these crop research areas. 14 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

There are 1.02 billion undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nearly six people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. In addition to the obvious hunger resulting from an empty stomach, there is also the hidden hunger of micronutrient deficiencies which make people susceptible to infectious diseases, impair physical and mental development, reduce their labour productivity and increase the risk of premature death.1

From adding value to existing crops, to designing new ones and increasing tolerance for others, researchers across Canada have collaborated with global scientists to put Canada on the map as a leader in this globally important area.

Climate Change Challenges – hot and Cold For countries with limited arable land, maximizing production is even more important. Genomics research involving crops grown in these areas can lead to increased yields, frost and drought tolerance and improved nutritional profiles. For example, early frost on the Canadian Prairies can mean the difference between a healthy profit and a staggering loss for farmers. In Saskatchewan alone, frost damage to the 2003-04 crop amounted to an estimated half a billion dollars. 3 The rapidly expanding area of functional genomics offers significant opportunities for the understanding and manipulation of complex genetic systems, ultimately resulting in improved low-temperature tolerance of crop cultivars. Projects such as Genome Prairie’s Crop Adaptation Genomics (CAG) project led by Dr. Brian Fowler, Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, have made advances in frost and drought tolerance in cereal crops. Enhanced cold tolerance could save millions of dollars in crop losses for farmers in a certain climate zones, lessening reliance on agriculture insurance programs. Planting cold-tolerant wheat varieties has significant societal benefits, as these crops can be planted earlier, resulting in better weed control, reduced herbicide costs and increased production through crop rotation. Luckily some of the same genes responsible for frost tolerance are the same ones related to drought tolerance, so the CAG project research stands to benefit crops in both extremes. www.cropadaptationgenomics.ca

AgBiotech New and Improved Agriculture and food processing is the third largest industrial sector in Canada and generates more than $100 billion in annual economic activity. Diversification of crops providing more environmentally friendly renewable products for producers will impact the bottom line and boost Canada’s agriculture economy. The Designing Oilseeds for Tomorrow’s Markets (DOTM) project is another example of how genomics research is working to add value and to existing crops. This project aims to develop new uses for canola seed meal as livestock feed and ultimately human food application. DOTM is co-led by Drs. Randall Weselake from the University of Alberta, and Gopalan Selvaraj from the NRC-PBI in Saskatoon, SK. By enhancing the quality of canola meal and increasing the oil content in the seed, farmers will soon realize the added value of new canola varieties. This project, led by Genome Alberta, focuses on seed meal quality of Brassica napus and will examine the modification of seed traits to enhance crop value and develop novel/improved food and feed products. Farmers will see the results at the farm gate, with more nutritious, heart-healthy oils available for consumer sale, proactively increasing the security of our food supply. www.dotm.ca

Health Assurance In British Columbia, healthcare costs are rising by an estimated eight per cent annually, compared to revenue increases of only three percent per year. Under current policies and revenue projections, healthcare costs in the province may reach over 70 per cent of total expenditures by 2017-18.4 Investing in research to promote healthier crops will provide more nutritious food for our population and thus be proactive in disease prevention and health. For example, the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM) in Winnipeg, MB is dedicated to understanding the health related benefits of nutraceuticals and functional foods through research experiments and clinical trials. With its partners: the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, CCARM is providing reliable, scientific, evidence-based information for consumers about these emerging agriculturally-based functional foods. The Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, also located in Manitoba, is dedicated to the discussion, discovery, and development of functional foods and nutraceuticals, with a focus on the crops of the Canadian Prairies.

Clean Energy With increasing concerns over world dependence on depleting oil resources, researchers leading the Microbial Genomics for Biofuels and Co-products from Biorefining Processes (MGCB2) project are looking for ways to develop alternate renewable and sustainable energy systems. One leading alternative fuel

“Population growth, arable land and fresh water limits and climate change have profound implications for the ability of agriculture to meet this century’s demands for food, feed, fibre and fuel while reducing the environmental impact of its production. Success depends on the acceptance and use of contemporary molecular techniques, as well as the increasing development of farming systems that use saline water and integrate nutrient flows.2 source is biological production, wherein fuels such as ethanol are produced from cellulosic feed stocks. University of Manitoba researchers Richard Sparling, microbiology, and David Levin, biosystems engineering, are co-leaders in a $10.4 million international collaboration looking for new ways to convert waste materials (including hemp hurds, flax shives, and woodchips) into fuels (biofuels) and other products. The mission of the proposed research is to establish Canada as an international leader in the production of biofuels and bioplastics. Sparling and Levin have assembled a multidisciplinary research team with the combined expertise to accomplish this goal, involving professionals in biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry, genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics, engineering and political science. While this research will stimulate the development of made-in-Canada biofuels and co-product technologies, it will also consider the ethical, environmental, legal and economic issues that impact biorefinery processes and market opportunities. www.microbialrefinery.com

Value-Added for Producers Diversification of new crops providing more environmentally friendly renewable products for farmers will impact the bottom line and boost Canada’s agriculture economy. The Total Utilization Flax Genomics (TUFGEN) project aims at providing genetic knowledge for the improvement of seed and fibre traits of oilseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). This knowledge will be developed through sound genetic and genomic based experiments, co-led by Drs. Gordon Rowland from the University of Saskatchewan and Sylvie Cloutier from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Winnipeg, MB. Genomics resources will be greatly expanded with the goal of positioning flax amongst all other important crops with significant resources. They will be utilized in research applications aiming at the improvement of seed composition including lignan JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 15

AgBiotech About Genome Prairie Genome Prairie manages and supports innovative, largescale genomics research projects in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Industry sectors such as agriculture, health, mining and energy are benefiting from the organization’s research and commercialization initiatives. With its partners, Genome Prairie has supported more than $188 million of research activity in plant, animal and human genomics, bioinformatics, instrumentation development and bioethics since its establishment in 2000. Through network establishment and regional priority consultations, Genome Prairie works collaboratively with all levels of government, universities and industry as well as Genome Canada, a not-for-profit organization implementing a national strategy in genomics and related bioscience research to benefit all Canadians.

The “wheat growing in the snow” is an actual plant developed from a Genome Prairie project (Crop Adaptation Genomics).

bioavailability, reduction of cyanogenic glucosides, mucilage, phenolics, cyclic peptides, protein content, fatty acid composition and oil assembly. Fibre characteristics of oilseed flax will also be studied toward the improvement of fibre yield, extractability and quality. www. tufgen.ca New crops such as camelina will also allow the utilization of marginal land and are low input as related to more traditional oil seeds. This new variety development enables agriculture as part of the climate change solution and develops markets for new products derived for oil seeds produced in western Canada.

Genomics in Canada The population explosion stats indicate that we will have nine billion mouths to feed globally by 2050.5 The good news is that we have one generation to change how we grow our food. Translated into research years, that means we have three to four cycles (each project takes approximately 10 years to go from bench to shelf) to be proactive and change our ways. However, science alone cannot solve this increasing crisis. Regulatory, political, economic and societal acceptance are keys to enabling crop science and technology to a standard where they can have the most positive impact on Canadians and globally. At the national regional levels, Genome Canada and Genome Prairie’s research projects are exploring some key opportunities that may help the hunger crisis. By adding value to farm crops such as flax, wheat, canola and emerging new crops, improvements are being made at the farmgate for producers. These advancements include developing new varieties to maximizing land use, encourage sustainability (soil erosion, fuel and water use) yielding larger, more nutritious crops. Canada needs to maintain its leadership in biotechnologies such as genomics and related biosciences and is in a prime position to use these emerging genomics tools to improve its economy, benefit the health of Canadians and lead the world in agri-food research technologies.

Genome Prairie has three key roles: Manage projects and facilitate regional participation and co-funding for Genome Canada and other genomics research projects in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

1 2

Provide regional leadership and support for collaborative efforts for genomic and bioscience research and knowledge transfer for the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Promote awareness of recent advancements and societal impacts of genomics and bioscience research to government, industry, public and other stakeholders. www.genomeprairie.ca

References 1. http://www.wfp.org/hunger World food Programme. 2. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/ full/327/5967/833 Radically Rethinking Agriculture for the 21st Century, N. V. Fedoroff,1,* D. S. Battisti, et al. 3 . http://www.nwrage.org/content/frost-tolerantwheat-save-farmers-multi-millions Western Grains Research Magazine Jun 2005 4. John Millar, 2010. “What’s Working: Progress and Success.” Presentation at the Leaders Summit on Food for a Healthy and Prosperous Future sponsored by CAPI, 17 February 2010. http://www.capi-icpa.ca/ LeadersSummit/presentations.html 5. 2050: A Third More Mouths to Feed http://www.fao. org/news/story/0/item/35571/icode/en/ Carol Reynolds is the director of Communications and Government Relations for Genome Prairie. Through stakeholder engagement and educational initiatives in the Saskatchewan and Manitoba biotechnology communities, she actively promotes the global impacts of genomics and related biosciences.

For more AgBiotech information visit our Natural Health Products Web Portal at www.bioscienceworld.ca

16 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

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BioTal

By Kimberly Bryce, Saskatchewan Research Council

Agriculture

DNA-based wheat

ID technology could protect Canada’s brand reputation

Between 2000 and 2008, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) collaborated with industry stakeholders with the intent to develop DNA-based technology to identify wheat classes and varieties.

18 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

Grain industry stakeholders have long confirmed the significant need for a robust and rapid method to identify Canadian wheat varieties. When the federal Minister of Agriculture removed Kernel Visual Distinguishability (KVD) in February 2008, the urgency for a rapid identification method increased. AAFC’s research, led by Dr. Doug Procunier of the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg, MB, developed single nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNPs) to advance the goal of developing a DNA-based variety identification technology, which is wellsuited to meet industry expectations. In 2008, SRC responded to an RFP put out by AAFC seeking a commercialization partner to develop DNA testing services for the grain industry to replace the KVD system. A licensing agreement was signed in the spring of 2009. Since then, SRC has been working towards proving out the bench science, attempting to scale up the technology and develop tests relevant to industry needs. SRC has also agreed to use DNA testing to support the Canadian wheat midge refuge strategy. The midge is a fly that devastates

wheat crops across the Prairies. Using AAFC’s technology as a foundation technology, SRC GenServe Laboratories™ plans to develop commercial testing services to identify Canadian wheat varieties. The Rapid Wheat Identification project is funded through two main sources. Western Economic Diversification Canada and Enterprise Saskatchewan awarded SRC $1.48 million through the Western Economic Partnership Agreement (WEPA) program. WEPA funds allowed SRC to purchase equipment and software as well as scale-up a pilot phase process. In addition, SRC is receiving $4.28 million from AAFC’s Agriflexibility Program to carry out further research to develop additional DNA resources for wheat variety identification. After conducting a market assessment through consultation with grain industry stakeholders, it became clear that identifying wheat varieties, rather than classes, will provide the information needed to add value to their businesses. As a result, SRC has focused its efforts on variety identification in order to respond to industry needs. The project has leveraged resources from across SRC to lend expertise in several different areas. In addition to scientific and technical employees within SRC GenServe Laboratories™, the project relies on SRC’s Development Engineering experts to design and build customized laboratory equipment. SRC’s Information Technology group has designed and developed custom software solutions. And SRC’s corporate infrastructure provides assistance in areas such as communications, purchasing and safety. To date, SRC has developed, validated and delivered Midge Varietal Blend Verification testing for seed growers across western Canada. These DNA-based tests support the midge refuge strategy. Testing is required to ensure the percentage frequency of refuge falls within the acceptable ranges as set out by the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA). continued on page 22

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By Dr. Miguel Providenti, Saskatchewan Research Council

energy

Biochar and

BIotechnology oLd And neW TecHnoLoGieS To SoLVe TodAY’S cHALLenGeS

biotechnology is recognized as a cutting-edge tool that may help society overcome two major challenges. by enhancing agricultural productivity, biotechnology can assist in feeding an increasing world population. And, by developing sustainable bioprocesses and bioproducts, biotechnology can lower dependence on non-renewable petroleum resources. Less well known is that biochar, a centuries old soil amendment technology undergoing a renaissance, is also being proposed as a solution to these challenges. That’s not all; biochar may also provide a way to mitigate climate change and diversify economies. What is biochar and how can it do all this?

Biochar: charcoal by any other name Charcoal is considered one of the oldest processed fuels known to mankind. It is produced by heating biomass like wood in low-or-zero-oxygen environments. Charcoal can be produced in a variety of ways, from low-tech earth mound kilns and buried pits to higher-tech pyrolysis units. In North America, charcoal is associated with barbeques, but charcoal was used as cleaner-burning fuel to cook food and for iron smelting. Many are also familiar with activated carbon, which is used to filter and purify water. When it is applied to soil, charcoal takes on a new function, soil amendment and a new name, biochar. 20 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, biochar was used by Amerindian farmers in the Amazon region as a soil management technique that appears to have supported complex civilizations as they developed. Evidence of these ancient practices can still be found in Amazonian Dark Earths, also known as Terra Preta, Portuguese for cooked earth.

Promising features and potential new applications Biochar and biochar-producing systems have many features that suggest a promising future for this old product.

Soil management Biochar stimulates soil microorganisms’ activity. It may lower fertilizer other agrochemical inputs while improving water use efficiency, since it reduces chemical run-off and retains water. In richer soils, biochar’s productivity benefits may be subtle or only observed during a drought or lower than normal precipitation, but in degraded or nutrient-poor soils, productivity improvement can be dramatic.

And, because biochar is stable, one application’s benefits are felt for years. Climate change mitigation Regular soil carbon derived from compost or other organic matter can be converted to carbon dioxide by soil microorganisms over months to years. In contrast, biochar carbon is stable for centuries to millennia. Given this longevity, biochar has been suggested as a method for sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide captured during normal plant photosynthesis in a process known as biosequestration. Biochar also lowers soil emissions of other potent greenhouse gasses like nitrous oxides and methane. Diversify economies Biochar can be produced from a wide variety of feedstocks and biochar production may provide alternative outlets for biomass and residues from a variety of sectors. Obvious ones include agriculture and forestry, but additional sources include biomass from industry and municipalities, which would have the additional benefit of diverting organic matter streams away from landfills. An added bonus is that when biochar is produced, the energy it releases can be used for heating, which reduces the reliance on fossil fuels. Furthermore, biomass can be economically transported in an approximate range of 200 km. Because of this continued on page 22

Energy

limited range, it will likely rely on small, distributed biomass processing facilities rather than large, centralized ones. Small-tomedium-scale biochar producing units that produce energy and biochar are recognized internationally for the potential win-win-win sustainable development opportunities they present, especially in rural or poorer communities. If carbon trading and pricing mechanisms are established, biochar may also have monetary value as a carbon offset.

Building the case for biochar Even though biochar and biochar-producing systems promise to provide environmentally, socially and economically sustainable solu-

continued from page 18 Midge tolerant wheat varieties are grown with non-tolerant wheat varieties in an interspersed refuge system. This practice extends the life of the resistance gene (Sm1) within the tolerant variety. The ideal ratio for a midge tolerant blend is 90 per cent tolerant to 10 per cent susceptible. In order to maintain these ratio levels in the field, CSGA requires that seed crops be tested for compliance with the interspersed refuge system following harvest each year. SRC GenServe Laboratories™ has developed midge varietal blend verification tests for each of the registered blends currently available to seed growers. For the 2009 crop year, 400 samples were tested and results reported to seed growers in order to obtain crop certificates. SRC GenServe Laboratories™ will be providing this service on an ongoing basis and will 22 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

tions to many challenges, much fundamental work remains to be done. Scientists, engineers and variety of individuals in academia, government, industry and non-governmental organizations are determining how best to deploy these technologies, whether alone or in combination with other technologies. In particular, they are investigating biotechnologies such as fast growing trees or drought-resistant plants dedicated to biomass productions. The Saskatchewan Research Council’s (SRC) Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Division is well-positioned to contribute to efforts exploring biochar’s feasibility in Saskatchewan and other agricultural regions. SRC’s Bioprocessing Business Unit is com-

begin processing samples for the 2010 crop year this fall. In addition to supporting the wheat midge refuge strategy, the outcomes of Rapid Wheat Identification project have significant positive impacts for the grain industry and farmers across the country. Rapidly identifying Canadian wheat varieties will be a vital tool in quality control and risk management throughout the grain handling system. Costs associated with grain shipments that get down-graded in quality are significant and increase dramatically as grain progresses through the handling system. DNA-based technology will allow for early detection of quality issues, allowing mitigating action to be taken in a timely manner. This could minimize costs and potentially prevent Canada’s reputation for quality from being eroded. Implementing DNA-based technology will also facilitate identification and segregation of visually indistinguishable

missioning a mobile pyrolysis unit, which processes biomass to create biochar. This unit can be operated within the laboratory or transported to the feedstock location for remote processing. It will be pivotal to an SRC study, supported by Saskatchewan’s Agricultural Development Fund, investigating pyrolysis of agricultural and livestock residue. In addition, the SRC’s Health and Food Business Unit is exploring biochar’s use for bioremediation of wastes from the mining and agriculture industry. The unit has plans to conduct greenhouse and small plot field trials. SRC is also contributing to efforts by local industry, researchers and other interested individuals to establish the Prairie Biochar Initiative, a not-for-profit association meant to coordinate biochar-related research, outreach and education in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. So stay tuned—biochar may be black but its future looks bright. For more information on biochar, visit www. biochar-international.org. To learn more about SRC’s biochar activities, contact bioprocessing@src.sk.ca or health&food@src.sk.ca.

For more Industrial Applications information visit our Energy Web Portal at www.bioscienceworld.ca

varieties, allowing new varieties with highly desirable traits to enter the system that had previously been rejected under KVD due to visual indistinguishability from existing classes. Wheat breeders will have a greater level of freedom in developing new varieties for a number of uses. Farmers will be able to grow new, higher yielding varieties for uses such as feed and ethanol production, while maintaining Canada’s brand reputation for high quality products and competitiveness in international grain markets.

For more Agriculture information visit our Natural Health Products Web Portal at www.bioscienceworld.ca

OPiniOn WHAt iS Agriculture? depending on where, how, when and by whom you were brought up, the answer to what is agriculture varies greatly. Some are quick to say, farming is farming, you put seeds in the ground and they grow into the food we eat. Sort of. others say something about the activity of managing the land to grow the food we eat. closer. others really have no idea where our food comes from, and most really don’t understand that agriculture is a science. Science is defined as the systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. Well then indeed, agriculture is truly a science and in every sense of the word, it is complicated. Aside from the biology of a plant or how it grows, agriculture has many facets that unbridle it from even the most complicated of systems. Agriculture includes transportation, communication, finance, trade, machinery, physics, biology, chemistry, pathology, energy, the most diversified distribution chain in the world and the list goes on. What i am illustrating is that agriculture is a complicated business, with many variables constantly in ﬂux and the entrepreneurs that invest in it take enormous risks every time they plant a crop. consequently, agriculture will quickly become the most important branch of science in the upcoming century, so we had better get people thinking about it. in 1960, one hectare of arable land fed two people – in 2030,

Reply Card #4760

By Darcy R. Pawlik it will need to feed five people. The new agriculture is one of ensuring efficiencies are realized, it is one where sustainability is paramount. it will require more output from less available resources, it will have to deal with climate change and urban sprawl, it will have to withstand significant invasive pest pressures and most importantly, it will have to feed all nine billion of earths inhabitants by 2050. The science of agriculture will need to be harnessed and unlocked to realize its potential. Today, Syngenta alone spends $2.5 million every day trying to bring the potential in plants to life. This is no small investment, but it is no small task that the agriculture industry is facing. We are using our resources to defend against biological and environmental pressures, we are increasing the competitiveness of the crops we plant and we are trying to do these things sustainably for future generations. What agriculture needs is real innovation and real talent to achieve what will be the biggest challenge of this century. i want to see people’s understanding of agriculture significantly increase with every day, with every generation and in every way possible. Why? because the world is depending on it; because we are depending on it, and most importantly, our children are depending on it.

JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 23

By:Tim Bryant

innOVAtOr

Using nature’s tools

for preVentIVe

heAlthcAre WiLL roWe, ceo And preSidenT nUTrASoUrce diAGnoSTicS

or some, their future is something that sneaks up on them when they least expect it, a sudden culmination of many small steps that did not immediately appear to lead anywhere. For others, the future and the success it brings, are the result of a childhood dream and years of hard work in making it happen. For William Rowe, his future is now his present, thanks to a desire to be more than one man. “I’ve always wanted to be in charge of something bigger than myself, to run something substantial, watch it grow and use my creativity to help it along,” he explains. As president and CEO of Nutrasource Diagnostics he’s built a company that allows him to do these things and at the same time enjoy the freedom that comes with being in control of his situation. “It’s refreshing, it’s liberating. I love the flexibility of being able to make decisions and not having to wait on some kind of bureaucracy for the decision-making process. And just watching your ideas grow and become reality is very rewarding.” Although he says his youth wasn’t one that would indicate he’d become a successful businessman, he did have a specific outlook on things. “I just always looked at situations from a creativity perspective,” he says. “I always found myself analyzing how to do things better or in a different way to optimize or maximize them.” After growing up and earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo, Rowe settled into a job in corporate develop24 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

“It’s refreshing, it’s liberating. I love the ﬂexibility of being able to make decisions and not having to wait on some kind of bureaucracy for the decision-making process. And just watching your ideas grow and become reality is very rewarding.”

ment at Waterloo, focusing on fundraising and attracting corporate dollars. He stayed there for four years before leaving to take a similar job in the science and engineering department at the University of Guelph. Although he never touched the science

directly, Rowe gained valuable hands-on experience in the business of science and engineering, experience that made him comfortable with moving from corporate development to running a business. It was while he was at the University of Guelph in 2002 that a colleague, Dr. Bruce Holub, approached him with an idea about a unique blood test that the idea behind Nutrasource Diagnostics began to take shape. “A private lab group had developed this test and he and I had a rapport or relationship prior to that and he brought it to me to see if this was something we wanted to commercialize and make available,” Rowe says. After examining and running business scenarios on the test for a few weeks, Rowe decided it was fit to be commercialized. Given the name Omega Score, this test was the first offering Nutrasource would release to the market. The Omega Score test is designed to determine the Omega-3 levels in an individual’s blood. The results can help determine whether a person should take supplements to boost his or her Omega-3 levels. It also allows those who take it to correlate their readings with accepted values for heart disease risk and death from heart attack risk. This gives them a chance to screen themselves in advance, allowing them a chance to reduce those risks through dietary or lifestyle changes. From 2002 to 2004, Rowe ran Nutrasource as a “hobby shop” while he continued his job in corporate development with the University of Guelph, where he had been since 2000. By January 2004, the Omega Score test had become so successful that Nutrasource was simply too big to remain a side business. “It got to the point where its success, along

INNOVATOR with the success of other things we added on, in terms of revenue streams, grew to the point where it warranted my full-time attention,” Rowe says. In addition to turning Nutrasource into a fulltime business, Rowe also licensed the Omega Score test to Life Labs, then known as MDS Laboratory Services, which now offers it to consumers across Canada through their physicians. The company has since grown in size by leaps and bounds, with an over fourfold increase in staff in the past three years alone. What started with only the Omega Score test has since grown to encompass over 30 product lines in four different areas: human clinical trials, regulatory consulting, product analytics and human diagnostics. And with different sectors comes different business models. “We’re now a CRO for clinical trials and regulatory work,” explains Rowe. “In the product analytics and human diagnostics work, our commercialization model is to take what other companies have developed in the lab and make it commercially available for their benefit and for our own.” Nutrasource’s human clinical trials division designs and conducts clinical trials. This work is done on the behalf of its sponsor clients, who seek to prove its products work in humans and provide a specified health outcome. In the regulatory branch, the work features analyzing different regulatory jurisdictions, such as the EU or the US. This can also encompass working to get products registered with Health Canada. The product analytics department tests products in order to confirm the label’s claims. This includes testing for any heavy metals or other contaminants, as well as for stability, shelf life and overall nutritional content. For human diagnostics, the work is ultimately more personal. This division works on tests that help people determine the levels of various biomarkers in their blood. Examples of these biomarkers include Omega-3 and Vitamin D. The single underlying theme in all four segments of Nutrasource’s work is nonpharmaceutical active ingredients. This means all the products with which the company works feature naturally-occurring active ingredients, be they in foods, beverages, supplements, homeopathic remedies or cosmetics. All this work is part of Rowe’s overall goal for the company, a vision he has had since the beginning. “The vision hasn’t changed from the original outset. We want to be the world leader in providing evidence-based wellness for individual healthcare practitioners and the food, beverage and nutrition industry. We want to provide the science that validates the prevention model.”

“And I think the kind of work that we’re doing here, where we’re demonstrating how natural health products that are very inexpensive can be used to really reduce risks in a lot of major disease categories, is just fascinating work.”

Indeed, Rowe believes his goal for the company is already well on its way to being attained. “I already see us as a world leader from the standpoint of a full solution for companies who want to commercialize new product or further validate existing product using evidence-based wellness as a model.” The prevention model Rowe seeks to validate is that where healthcare is focused on preventing illness rather than treating it when it arises. It’s based on the idea that a healthy lifestyle now can prevent large healthcare bills in the future. It is also the model Rowe sees used across the globe and developing a toehold in North America. “I think in Eastern countries such as China and India, there’s a lot more credence put on the prevention model. And I think in North America, that’s certainly a big emerging trend.” He believes if people were to practice preventive healthcare, they would enjoy longer and healthier lives. “And they can’t do that if they’re not healthy, whether through chronic conditions, terminal illness or pain. And so the healthier they are, and they want to be proactive about that, the better their lifestyle as they age.” Rowe is also enthused by the work Nutrasource does and how it gives a direct financial benefit to ordinary consumers by helping them offset their medical costs through being proactive. “And I think the kind of work that we’re doing here, where we’re demonstrating how natural health products that are very inexpensive can be used to really reduce risks in a lot of major disease categories, is just fascinating work.” This fascinating work has driven Rowe to want to improve and contribute to the healthcare system. He acknowledges the politics involved with healthcare, but is keenly aware that without changes, governments may find themselves in serious financial deficits in the future. “So I think it’s a fascinating political discussion on how much does the prevention model

save, does it save anything? Is it better for the economy to have a Canadian citizen living a rich full healthy life for a longer period of time or is it more costly? Is it better for the economy to have somebody sick after the age of 40 and be bedridden until they’re 90 and be dependent on various meds and treatment and be dependent on the healthcare system?” He may not have all the answers, but Rowe knows the debate is needed and he will be paying close attention to what both sides have to say. His experience has given him the knowledge of what is needed to make a successful jump from the lab to the marketplace. It’s more than simply having an idea, he says, adding he has found scientists and engineers will often wait too long before realizing they have a product they can sell. He says the best thing they can do is to take a product that is good enough and start selling it. “You can always come out with ‘next generation’ or ‘new and improved’ or whatever you want to call it downstream, when your new idea for your product is ready.” Selling when a product is ready, but not yet perfect, can only help new entrepreneurs in the long run, Rowe says. The knowledge and feedback available in the marketplace can give entrepreneurs the information they need to improve their offerings. “But if you never get out of the back room, or never get out of the lab, you’re just going to continue chasing your own tail. At some point you have to start selling.” As co-founder, president and CEO, Rowe has his finger on the pulse of the company. He continues to work to grow the company while not losing sight of his original vision, a role that has remained almost unchanged since those early days in 2002 when it all began.

For more INNOVATORS information visit our PROFILES Web Portal at www.bioscienceworld.ca JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 25

By Ali Riazi and Sara Arab

GENE EXPRESSION

Gene Expression Profiling, Current Concepts and Future Directions

icroarray technology has profoundly transformed biology for more than a decade. Since the publication of the first human genome in early 2000, scientists have been facing the formidable task of understanding the function of all 25,000 or so expressed genes that each encodes individual proteins. Multiple levels of complexity have also been introduced with the discovery of varying classes of non-coding RNAs and other gene regulatory elements, which constitute a large portion of the genome. Although studying genes individually and in isolation has been successful in discerning the underlying cause of disorders involving a single gene, we now know that this technique is ineffective when multigenic and complex disorders such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are in question. Genes work within biological networks; hence its functions can only be understood within the context of system biology where global gene expression patterns are studied.

Gene Expression Microarray and Applications Microarray technologies were initially designed to measure the transcriptional levels of RNA transcripts derived from thousands of genes within a genome in a single experiment. This technology has made it possible to link physiological cell states to gene-expression patterns. Such insights are used to study tumours, disease progression, cellular response to stimuli, drug target identification and transplant injury mechanisms. For example, subsets of genes with increased or decreased activities (referred to as transcriptional profiles or geneexpression “signatures”) have been identified in acute lymphoblast leukemia, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, multiple tumour types, organ transplantation and drug response.

Use of DNA microarrays in biomedical research is not limited to gene-expression. DNA microarrays are being utilized to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human genome (Hap Map project) with applications in pharmacogenomics, aberrations in methylation patterns, alterations in gene copy number, alternative RNA splicing, pathogen detection and micro-RNA (Hoheisel JD, Nature Rev. Genet.; 2006, 7: 200-209).

Technology overview In microarray experiments usually a comparison is made between a cell or tissue type in status A and an altered state, status B, which might be linked to a disease. In a standard experiment RNA samples are extracted from control and test cells, turned into cDNA, and labeled with either Cy5 or Cy3 before hybridization to a gene chip. The difference in gene activity between samples from the two conditions (e.g. reference and tumour in the figure) can easily be measured wherever one colour exceeds the other at each spot. The intensity represents fold difference of RNA levels between normal and diseased state. Data generated is subjected to statistical analysis, hierarchical clustering, principal component or multi-dimensionalscaling (MDS) analysis as depicted in figure 1.

Transcriptome analysis and disease pathogenesis The most effective application of microarray gene chips is to study the global gene expression changes that occur in disease conditions. The collection of genes that are expressed or transcribed from the DNA is referred to as the expression profile or “transcriptome”. These genes are then translated into proteins which determine the cellular phenotypes and functions. Changes in expression patterns can provide clues about regulatory mechanisms, cellular functions, and biochemical pathways underlying a disease. Expression profiling has advanced expression-based research in all areas of biology. In mammalian biology, for example, genome-wide expression or microarrays have identified novel genes involved in the cell cycle, cell differentiation and specific disease states. Despite its direct relevance, the direct evaluation of human disease samples using microarray technology also has significant limitations. The most obvious one is the end stage nature of the samples, which may represent a convergence of phenotype that has no relevance to the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms. Furthermore, many of these patients also have concomitant medications, which might skew the gene expression patterns. To obviate these concerns and to capture the potential early triggers of the pathologic condition, complementary approaches such as using animal models has provided interesting insights.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of a standard gene expression microarray study.

26 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

GENE EXPRESSION Disease classification Gene expression profiling using microarray has been successfully applied to the field of cancer biology in order to classify cancer stage. For instance Mi et al. (PNAS, 2007; 104: 19971-6) demonstrated that micro-RNA expression profiling can be used to accurately distinguish between acute myeloid leukemia vs. acute lymphocytic leukemia. This method has been similarly applied to other types of cancer as diverse as lung cancer, breast cancer and glioma. However, in the setting of heart disease, microarraybased classification has revealed poor separation of human cardiomyopathies of ischemic and nonischemic etiologies. These findings point to a substantial heterogeneity of heart disease at the transcriptomic level. In general, microarray data from samples with known disease type or stage are used to build classifiers and then unknown samples are subjected to gene expression profiling and classified into known disease classes.

Disease prognosis To identify disease early in its process, specific markers will be useful in the diagnoses and delineation of etiology. Currently, the best example of an early diagnostic marker for heart disease is brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), which is released by the ventricular myocardium under stress. The spill over of this marker into the blood has been extremely useful for early diagnosis of heart failure and also provides prognostic information. However, it is elevated irrespective of heart failure etiology. Microarray technology can systematically identify novel markers of disease, which ultimately identify the etiology. Gene expression profiling using microarray has also been recently demonstrated in prostatic cancer, where early and accurate diagnosis is particularly useful for determining course of action. Using microarray, early diagnostic pattern was indeed recognized and in particular two signalling molecules appeared to be unique to early prostatic cancer – hepsin and pim-1, which are both serine-threonine kinases (Leman and Getzenberg, J Cell Biochem, 2009; 108: 3-9). Gene-expression profiles for prognostic classifiers are usually built by the correlation of gene-expression patterns, generated from specimens, with clinical outcome (e.g. acute rejection vs stable without rejection). Gene-expression predictive classifiers of response to treatment are generated by the correlation of gene-expression data, derived from samples taken before treatment, with clinical and pathological response to the treatment. Although the identification of the most relevant information from microarray experiments is still under active research, well-established methods are available for a broad spectrum of experimental set-ups. FDA has approved the clinical use of a microarray-based genetic test called MammaPrint for breast cancer risk assessment. MammaPrint analyzes 70 genes from an early-stage breast cancer tissue sample to determine if the cancer has a low or high recurrence risk within 10 years after diagnosis. Figure 2: Schematic of a color-coded probe pair. Image is from NanoString Technologies web site.

SNP and CNV detection One interesting application of DNA microarrays is to perform whole genome scan to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) or copy number variations (CNV) linked to the presence of complex diseases, e.g. diabetes and heart disease. The availability of genetic markers along the entire human chromosomes permits the identification of candidate SNPs or CNVs associated with disease. Certain SNPs have been shown to predispose certain individuals to disease, for example, the apolipoprotein-epsilon 4 polymorphism predisposes individuals to coronary disease (Stampfer et al, N Engl J Med, 1991; 325: 373). The association of CNVs to multigenic diseases such as heart disease or cancer has not been shown yet. Large scale high throughput techniques such as microarray can determine SNPs and CNVs throughout genome. As association of more of these variations to aberrant gene expression and disease are begin identified, SNP and CNV arrays use will become more widespread in future for assessing disease risk.

Future direction in light of new technologies Since the inception of microarrays for gene expression profiling, there has been a remarkable growth in the source of the gene chips and the related components of microarray techniques such as cloneset, arrayer, scanner and analysis software. This is expected to evolve significantly in the next few years. The utility of microarray combined with bioinformatics is expected to provide increasing insight into the molecular basis of biological events despite some major limitation of microarrays such as inefficient detection of very low abundance small regulatory RNAs. Chip manufacturers such as Affymetrix and Incyte have increased its sensitivity to approximately one gene per 100,000 of genes in total RNA population. This level of sensitivity unfortunately is still behind the classical methods such as Northern blot. Therefore, although accurate, the microarray can miss the rare gene expression events, which may be important in the overall biology of the disease. Recently, there has been some controversy over the future of microarray in light of developments in new technologies for nucleic acid analysis, particularly next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. NGS has been a major leap for scientists toward accomplishing the primary goal of “1000 genome project. This international effort was launched in 2008 with support from the NIH, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the Bejiing Genomics Institute, and contributions by a number of private companies. The project’s goal is to sequence the genomes of at least 1,000 people, discovering both SNPs and structural variants. This formidable task has been made possible by recent advances in NGS methods. Current common platforms for NGS include Roche 454/FLx, Illumina Solexa, and Applied Biosystem SOLiD, each using different methodologies of pyrosequencing, sequence by synthesis, and ligasemediated sequencing, respectively. In NGS, the expression level of a gene is determined by the number of times its DNA sequence appears in the pool. One advantage of NGS over microarray is the ability of acquiring gene expression data without a priori sequence information. This makes NGS the method of choice in studies such as cataloguing environmental gene diversity. Furthermore, in case of low abundance non-coding regulatory RNAs NGS is superior to microarray. For example in one study using NGS strategy, more than 400,000 small RNAs were sequenced and characterized in C.elegans (Ruby et al. Cell 2006; 126: 1193-207). Some current caveats of NGS include significantly higher cost relative to microarray and the sheer volume of data associated with NGS demanding massive amount of bioinformatics analysis. JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 27

GENE EXPRESSION an average of 12 million aligned reads per channel. Another innovative technology developed by Geiss and colleagues from NanoString Technologies is nCounter gene expression system which is used for direct multiplexed measurement of gene expression with colorcoded probe pairs without amplification. The technology utilizes molecular barcodes and single-molecule imaging to detect and count hundreds of unique transcripts directly in a single reaction. The company has

Other technologies are also on the horizon. For instance, Helicos Biosciences has developed a high-throughput, amplificationfree method for transcriptome quantification, named single-molecule sequencing digital gene expression (smsDGE). The technology utilizes a reverse-transcription and polyA-tailing sample preparation procedure followed by single-molecule sequencing that generates a single read per transcript. Helicos has demonstrated sequencing of the yeast transcriptome in a single run, yielding

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demonstrated that the nCounter system is more sensitive than microarrays and similar in sensitivity to real-time PCR. nCounter can multiplex up to 550 genes. Despite the rapid advances with NGS and other methods discussed above, these technologies are still at the initial stages of their development. They are also significantly costly hence not ready to be adopted by most academic research groups or small biotechnology companies. Conversely, microarray is reliable and less costly. Using microarray platforms is suitable when investigating global gene expressions across many subjects while NGS technologies might be more suitable when studying detailed gene expression of only a few samples. Gene expression profiling using microarray will therefore remain a useful tool in research and clinical settings for the foreseeable future.

The applications of microarray technology in the context of human disease are various and boundless. The technology is now matured and reliable, hence could be utilized as a common tool for clinical diagnosis or disease prognosis. At the Ontario Biomedical Institute (OBI) we believe the daunting challenge of determining the true etiology of human disease is only possible by using a system biology approach that uses genomics and proteomics array technologies. The most exciting frontiers in application of microarray to human disease research will be brought to us by insightful and prepared investigators who carry out carefully controlled experiments. The ever-increasing use of these technologies demands a vast amount of resources. At OBI we focus on equipping investigators with the training they need to independently perform basic microarray analysis on raw data. Scientists collaborating with OBI also provide microarray consulting for small and large-scale microarray experiments. For further information, please contact OBI or visit www.ontariobiomedical.ca. About authors: Dr. Sara Arab is a genomics scientist at University Health Network in Toronto and an instructor at OBI. Dr. Ali Riazi is a geneticist and Director of OBI, Ontario Biomedical Institute, 1 Dundas Street West, Suite 2500, Toronto, ON M5G 1Z3

For more GENE EXPRESSION information visit our DRUG DISCOVERY Web Portal at www.bioscienceworld.ca

CALENDAR Company & Advertiser Index AUGUST 2010 August 1-5 Microscopy & Microanalysis 2010 Venue: Portland, OR Tel: (703) 234-4115 Fax: (703) 435-4390 Email: AssociationManagement@ microscopy.org Web: www.microscopy.org

August 15-19 International IUPAC Conference on Green Chemistry Venue: Ottawa, ON Email: info@icgc2010.ca Web: http://www.icgc2010.ca/

SEPTEMBER 2010 September 10-11 Global Biomarker Conference 2010 Venue: Vancouver, BC Web: www.globalbiomarkerconference.org

September 12-15 ABIC Saskatoon Venue: Saskatoon, SK Tel: (306) 975-1939 Fax: (306) 955-0545 Email: abicfoundation@abic.ca Web: www.abic.ca/abic2010

September 15-17 BioPharm America Venue: Boston, MA Tel: (760) 930-0500 Email: hmersy@ebdgroup.com Web: www.ebdgroup.com/bpa

September 17-24 IMAGENENATION-National Biotechnology Week www.biotech.ca

September 21-22 BIO India International Partnering Conference Venue: Hyderabad, India Email: tdalal@bio.org Web: http://bioindia.bio.org/ opencms/bioindia/2010

September 30-October 3 BCSLS Annual Congress Venue: Vancouver, BC Tel: (604) 714-1760 Fax: (604) 738-4080 Email: bcsls@telus.net Web: www.bcsls.net

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Aeterna Zentaris Inc................................. 8.................................. Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd......................... 9.................................. BioTalent Canada.........................................19............................4758 Caledon Laboratory Chemicals................ 7.............................4754

OCTOBER 2010

Canadian Science Policy Conference..... 23............................4760

October 5-7

Cedarlanelabds............................................ 9.............................4755

CanBio National Conference Venue: Vancouver, BC Tel: (705) 472-2280 Email: info@canbio.ca Web: www.canbio.ca

DiaMedica Inc.......................................... 10.................................

October 6-7 BioContact Venue: Quebec City, QC Tel: (418) 694-8778 Fax : (418) 694-0614 Email :lysbeth@biocontact.qc.ca Web: www.biocontact.ca

October 11-13 Translational Research Excellence 2010 Venue: Brisbane Exhibition and Conference Centre, Australia Web: www.trx10.com.au

DiTEBA Research Laboratories Inc........... 10................................. Eppendorf.................................................... 32............................4762 Fisher Scientific............................................ 2.............................4752 Genome Prairie........................................ 8.................................. KGK Synergize Inc. .................................. 6.................................. Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc.................. 8.................................. Medwell Capital Corp............................... 9.................................. MethylGene Inc........................................ 9.................................. Miraculins Inc........................................ 8, 10............................... Monsanto Canada................................... 10................................. Ocean Nutrition Canada.......................... 10................................. Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Ltd.................... 9..................................

October 20-22

Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP...............10............................4756

Canadian Science Policy Conference 2010 Venue: Montréal, QC Tel: (613) 276-3274 Fax: (613) 746-3274 Email: dsiele@sciencepolicy.ca & Melissa@sciencepolicy.ca Web: http://sciencepolicy.ca/ cspc2010

POI..................................................................31............................ 4761

October 26-27

SIBR Research Inc..................................... 6..................................

Growing Saskatchewan 2010 Venue: Sheraton Cavalier, Saskatoon, SK Web: www.growingsask.ca

Therapure Biopharma Inc....................... 10.................................

October 28-30

Trent University....................................... 7..................................

Annual Scientific Conference Venue: Gatineau, QC Web: www.arthritisnetwork.ca

TRIUMF.................................................... 6..................................

Patheon Inc.............................................. 7.................................. PharmSource........................................... 7.................................. POS Pilot Plant Corporation..................... 8.................................. Roche............................................................. 5.............................4753 Saskatchewan Research Council........... 8, 11..........................4759

Theratechnologies................................... 8.................................. Thesis Chemistry Inc.............................. 10.................................

University of British Columbia................. 6.................................. VWR................................................................17............................4757

JULY/AUGUST 2010 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 29

THE LAST WORD

By: John Kelly, Ph.D.

Commercialization in the bioeconomy: the importance of public/private John Kelly, Ph.D. vice president, Erie Innovation and Commercialization

Over the past decade, a significant change in opportunity for the agricultural sector has occurred. In the 20th century, agricultural producers were known for providing society with high quality, inexpensive nutritious food and not much else. In the 21st century however, agriculture is being pressed to provide inputs for more than just the food sector and this is providing both an opportunity and a pressure point for farmers.

Do they produce crops for food, or do they take advantage of possibilities in relatively new markets, such as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, fuel and/or the chemical sector? Complicating this issue is that many of the value chains for these possibilities are underdeveloped. The typical value chain for most of these opportunities involves a technology provider, a producer, an aggregator, an end user and finally a consumer. This model can be applied to many of the components of bioeconomy production. For new ventures, the communication and co-operation from one end of the chain to the other is essential for it to become a success. Case in point is the development of biomass as a fuel for electricity generation, a subject which the federal and provincial governments have a strong interest. In the province of Ontario, Ontario Power Generation (OPG), a crown corporation, has been mandated by the policies of the provincial government to cease using coal as an input for power generation by the end of 2014. This presents a significant challenge to OPG as it works to define other sources of ignition for some of its power plants. In a recently released 148 page report from the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Don Hewson and Dr. Aung Oo reported that Ontario itself has capacity to produce 8.75 million tonnes per year of energy crops. They also indicated that Ontario’s agricultural sector can sustainably produce both food and fuel, and that the development of perennial energy crops would have a positive impact on the environment. (see Report on Energy Crop Options for Ontario Power Generation, 2009). Biomass, through the use of forestry products or dedicated agricultural crops such as miscanthus, switch grass, hemp, sorghum or crop residues, has been identified as an alternative to coal to help fire OPG’s plants like the one at Nanticoke. At first glance, this might seem like a simple transfer from one carbon source to another. To meet the needs of the consumer (you and I) for efficient and responsible electrical power generation, the value chain must function equitably along the entire chain. But there are many aspects to consider when burning a different source of carbon for heat and power generation. From OPG’s perspective, these would include the characteristics of the burn (for example, high silicate content can lead to “klinker” formation – glass pellets – which can severely impact the lifespan of a boiler), the recipe and type of inputs used in the burn, and the analysis of the resultant ash and exhaust from the burn. Further, the 30 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS JULY/AUGUST 2010

consistency and adequacy of supply of viable inputs to the burn (pellets are the preferred source) is key to the ability of the large plants to use these inputs. Additionally, since biomass has a lower concentration of carbon (and therefore stored energy), the amount of heat generated per ton of biomass is much lower than that of coal. Full life cycle analysis and environmentally sound production are key tenets for OPG adoption of biomass as a fuel. For agricultural producers, issues of development include agronomics (how the plants perform in the field under wide and varying conditions; crop protection products, establishment), genomics (those crops that will tolerate Canadian conditions and yield the highest), economics (the return on investment) and environment (the stewardship these crops). Add to this the logistics of storage, harvest and transportation and the issue of biomass production becomes more complicated. The decision for producers, however, is predicated on the return on investment. The aggregation step in this value chain involves the collection and receipt of biomaterial, processing into pellets (pelletization), storage and transportation of the final product to the end user (in this case OPG). While this also may seem to be relatively straight forward, considerations like the engineering of the pellet die (which must be more robust than that used for the production of pet food for example), costs of production and transportation costs and the reliability and consistency of supply are very important. Add to this that in Canada, there are very few aggregators currently operational. To make the use of biomass a success for electrical generation, being profitable for producers and aggregators, and at a reasonable cost for end users, participants in this new value chain have been working together to address these challenges. This public private partnership of a crown corporation, universities, government, private industry and agricultural producers is essential for the success of this project and information on this partnership can be found at www. omafra.gov.on.ca. As Hewson and Aung said, the speedy adoption of energy crops for combustion does require a combination of clear, concrete government policy, pricing and payment strategies for biomass which are attractive to those in the value chain, a guaranteed market, demonstration farms and pelletizers. All of this requires effective communication and information sharing and dissemination from one end of the value chain to the other and back again.

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