UBC has received generous support from NSERC's CREATE Training Program to fund two new graduate programs in Genome Science + Technology. Details on the NSERC CREATE program can be found on the NSERC web site.

Prospective students, please visit the new Genome Science + Technology web site.

B.C. beekeepers are hoping research on the genome of the honeybee that is being done by a University of B.C. team will help reverse a dangerous decline in the bee population.  For at least the last five years, North American beekeepers have lost an average of 30 per cent of their hives annually, mostly because of infectious diseases. As the primary insect that farmers depend on for the pollination of commercial crops, the honeybee's decline is viewed as the agricultural equivalent of the canary in the coal mine. From B.C's blueberry crops and tree fruit industry to the canola fields of Alberta, western Canadian crops are at risk if bee populations continue their downward spiral.

This weekend more than 150 beekeepers will gather in Richmond for a B.C. Honey Producers Association conference to learn about new research and bee husbandry that may help arrest that decline.

Some of the research is being done by a team led by Dr. Leonard Foster, a molecular biologist at UBC who is trying to develop bees with a genetic resistance to some viruses and diseases. He's also developing tools to help bee breeders genetically select for characteristics that help reduce infestations of a parasitic mite that has caused widespread damage in the industry.

The CoEN initiative, launched in 2010, funds highly innovative research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementias and Parkinson’s disease. Under a call for proposals for collaborative research that will serve to underpin future studies, $3.7m  has been awarded to eight new projects spanning the development of new disease models, the identification of biomarkers and the harmonisation of methodologies for clinical studies. These projects bring together a wealth of resources and expertise from a number of large research institutes in different countries to tackle scientific questions that are key to the advancement within the field.

CHiBi’s own Dr. Joerg Gsponer, together with Dr. David Rubinsztein (University of Cambridge), head one of the funded projects to study the identification of generic supressors of proteinopathies.

Researchers in the Hansen Lab at the UBC Centre for High-Throughput Biology, in collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency and the Centre for Translational and Applied Genomics, have invented a silicone chip that could make genetic analysis far more sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective by allowing individual cells to fall into place like balls in a pinball machine.  The device – about the size of a nine-volt battery – allows scientists to simultaneously analyze 300 cells individually by routing fluid carrying cells through microscopic tubes and valves. Once isolated into their separate chambers, the cells’ RNA can be extracted and replicated for further analysis (PNAS Aug 1 epub ahead of print).

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