A vote in Canada’s Parliament to approve a genetic privacy bill is creating a self-inflicted political headache for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government—and could result in a relatively rare and unusual court case. The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, originally introduced in 2013 by now-retired Liberal Senator James Cowan, is aimed at preventing the use of information generated by genetic tests…
Stem cell science belongs to Canada and it is powering regenerative medicine. Today, leaders from across this emerging sector have joined forces to advance the field, through the newly created Regenerative Medicine Alliance of Canada (RMAC). The global market for regenerative medicine is expected to exceed US$49 billion by 2021. Canada is well positioned to compete by moving its innovative…
This week’s #BCTECH Summit commenced with several noteworthy announcements for the BC tech sector. The government has moved a long way towards the things we believe will be important to growing our sector, ensuring a strong pipeline of talent and bolstering the provincial economy. Many of the announcements in the government’s update to the #BCTECH Strategy are aligned with recommendations…
On April 14 last year, British Columbia’s chief health officer declared a public health emergency due to the high number of opioid overdose deaths in the province – and the death toll has continued to rise since then. In December, Vancouver police reported up to nine opioid overdose deaths in a single night. At a conference on the opioid crisis…
A gift of $1.5 million will help add additional expertise in a lung cancer research project at the B.C. Cancer Foundation, it was announced Wednesday. Dr. Stephen Lam, who leads the project, was also named the new chair of the Lung Cancer Screening Project, in addition to his role as the chair of the Provincial Lung Tumour Group. The project…
As the U.S. border tightens for both political and bureaucratic reasons, the federal government is launching a new stream of its temporary foreign worker program to entice highly skilled workers to come to Canada. The program’s new “Global Talent” pilot stream was announced Thursday morning in Toronto by Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, and Patty Hajdu,…
A new study at the University of British Columbia has produced a “definitive debunking” of a controversial procedure that surgically widens neck veins as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. Dr. Anthony Traboulsee has released the results of a $5.5-million clinical trial he believes will deliver the final death blow to so-called liberation therapy. For years, MS patients have been travelling around…
A private biotechnology company developing state-of-the-art lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology for messenger RNA (mRNA), announced today publication of data demonstrating that mRNA encoding a broadly neutralizing antibody delivered in an Acuitas LNP carrier protects humanized mice from HIV-1 challenge. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, Acuitas’ scientists and academic researchers lead by Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, a professor…
B.C.’s innovation-driven biotech leaders are stepping on to the world stage and generating $14.4 billion a year in economic effect in the process. Vancouver-based Stemcell Technologies, for example, has emerged as a global presence with customer support and distribution hubs in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, and annual revenues reportedly topping $150 million. But as impressive as that figure sounds — and…
A story in the online publication National Observer last year highlighted what appeared to be a significant rise in the use of laboratory animals in Canada, as indicated by a report from the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). Although the article did not distinguish among the various types of animals included in the report, the increase was almost entirely…