Canadian NEWS New Tools for Canadian Researchers
The federal government, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, is investing $13 million in new labs, equipment and research at the Université de Sherbrooke and $280,000 in social sciences and humanities research at Bishop’s University. The investments will help scientists and researchers develop groundbreaking projects and will also help them build stronger partnerships with the private and not-for-profit sectors, improving the well-being of Canadians in cities, towns and rural areas across the country.
SQI Signs Agreement with a Global Biotechnology Company
SQI Diagnostics announced a partnership with a global biotechnology company to provide assay development and future sample testing and analysis services. The customer has contracted test development to SQI to create an immunogenicity assay utilizing SQI's multiplexing technology. After completing test development, SQI anticipates it will be engaged to provide contract research services to provide analytical sample testing. The testing will be done at SQI's facility in Toronto.
Research on Sustainability in the Egg Industry Receives Support from NSERC
Dr. Nathan Pelletier, a Canadian expert in sustainability, has been awarded a prestigious Industrial Research Chair by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The award will advance Pelletier's research activities focused on sustainability measurement and management, lifecycle thinking and resource efficiency, with a focus on the Canadian egg industry. Since 2016, Pelletier has collaborated with Egg Farmers of Canada, exploring opportunities to improve resource efficiencies and reduce the environmental impact of egg supply chains.
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January/February 2018 Lab Business
Brock Researchers Create Groundbreaking DNA Reader for Disease Detection
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chemist and a parasite expert at Brock University have teamed up to produce and test out a simple device that can detect diseases from DNA samples. It’s a scaled-down version of what is normally an ex pensive a nd complicated DNA laboratory technique, yet it’s fast, inexpensive and accurate, making it ideal for use in developing countries. Brock University Assistant Professor of Chemistry Feng Li’s device consists of a strip of paper attached onto a glass slide. The paper contains several rows of what look like thermometers, lines with markings projecting out of bulb-like circles. DNA samples are loaded onto the circles and move up the lines, much like mercury rises in a thermometer. “Different concentrations of the genetic disease biomarkers in the samples would migrate different distances,” says Li. “So, all you need to do is read the distance they penetrate, just like you’d read a ruler.” Known as the quantitative paper-based DNA reader, each device costs only about 10 cents. They work with a scaled-down version of a traditionally expensive and complex DNA laboratory technique known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR technique normally requires highly specialized equipment and expensive molecular probes. But Li’s device is able to read DNA samples through a PCR technique using simple technology and low-cost chemicals. “This is going to be extremely useful in resource-limited settings where you don’t have a lot of facilities to interpret the results,” says Li. One such setting is the National Autonomous University of Honduras, where Brock University Professor of Health Sciences Ana Sanchez runs an internationally renowned research program focusing on parasites. She and her research team collected worms that had been expelled by children suspected of having soil-transmitted helminth infection, a disease affecting about 1.5 billion people worldwide and a major cause of childhood malnutrition and physical impairment. The researchers used the quantitative paper-based DNA reader to test the worms for helminth infection. “The results are beautiful; there’s no doubt that the system works,” says Sanchez. She applauds the speed and sensitivity of the device, saying that diagnostic techniques in developing countries are traditional, basic and rely on the expertise of the person observing the sample. Sanchez says the device goes beyond just a yes or no result by measuring the amount of genetic disease biomarkers in the DNA sample. “How many parasites is this child harbouring?” she says. “That tells you maybe their immune response and nutrition are impaired, that we’d need to consider if treatment needs to be ramped up, even if there could be a possibility of parasitic resistance.” The research team’s results in their study “Paper-Based DNA Reader for Visualized Quantification of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections” were published in ACS Sensors. Watch video of the DNA reader at youtu.be/9grDcimeido.