$6.7 million in new federal support for Canadian genomics research

The federal government is providing $6.7 million to fund seven new projects under Genome Canada’s Genomics Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) that connects genomics-focused researchers and companies. Provincial governments, business, and other funding partners will be contributing an additional $14.3 million.

The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, one of the recipients of GAPP funding, will study disease-resistant vegetables. The six other new GAPP projects span the health care, agriculture and environmental protection sectors: including viral epidemic detection, beneficial microbes for legume farming, and algorithmic microbiome analysis among others. Genome Canada President Marc LePage said that “From improving therapies for rare diseases in humans, to protecting caribou populations, to enhancing disease resistance in vegetables and crops, genomic tools and solutions are everywhere.”