Genesis is proud to announce its participation in an NSERC funded project to develop An Electrochemical Strategy for High-Throughput DNA Barcoding. Providing coordination and management for the project, Genesis Genomics also will be the commercializing agent for technologies created from the research agenda.
With Dr. Heinz-Bernhard Kraatz (University of Western), Dr. Robert Hanner (Canadian Barcode of Life Network, University of Guelph) and Dr. Keith A. Crandall (Genoma LLC, Brigham Young University), Genesis Genomics is participating in an NSERC Strategic Grant of $465 000 over the next three years to develop and commercialize rapid, accurate, inexpensive technology for analyzing a DNA barcode.
 | The Barcode of Life project seeks to use mitochondrial DNA as a means of uniquely identifying species. By analyzing a specific section of the mitochondrial genome that is variant between species but consistent within species, a unique barcode or identifier is possible to uniquely distinguish species. The project combines this DNA barcode, along with photographs, geolocation information, and sample collection data to create a web-accessible database of life. |
|
Applications for this technology include biosurveillance for regulatory enforcement and quality assurance purposes. For example, the pine beetle, an invasive biological species, will cost the Canadian forest industry $1.5 billion. Affordable, easily accessible biosurveillance will allow for a rapid identification of and response to these kinds of biological invaders. Likewise, enhanced quality control for items that are, traditionally, nearly impossible to identify in their processed forms, such as fish stocks, can, through this technology, prevent fraud and ensure that consumers are receiving the goods they expect. Regardless of the form – processed, larval, or egg – the DNA remains the same, and the species may be identified. |
|
|
|
The technology to facilitate the low cost, rapid barcode technology, in development by Dr. Kraatz, is electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This technology is able to rapidly sequence sections of DNA, as well as detect differences between DNA sections in a cost-effective manner. |
For more information on the Barcode of Life project, visit:
Canada:
Internationally:
http://www.dnabarcodes.org/
http://barcoding.si.edu/index.html
| Dr. Hanner | |
 | |
| Dr. Kraatz | |
 |
http://www.uwo.ca/chem/people/faculty/kraatz.htm
|
| Dr. Crandall | |
 | http://lifesciences.byu.edu/home/FacStaff/default.aspx?ID=172 |
Other media coverage of this initiative:
Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
Thunder Bay Source
GenomeWeb
