Bible Hill, November 27, 2006—Today, Dr. Philip Hicks of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) welcomed the Canada Foundation for Innovation ’s (CFI) investment of $263,665 supporting the Atlantic Research Centre for Agricultural Genomics and NSAC researchers Drs. Berni Benkel, Hossain Farid, Leslie MacLaren and Gefu Wang-Pruski.

“The CFI’s support of cutting-edge research infrastructure has transformed Canada’s research landscape and increased the country’s international competitiveness,” said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of the CFI. “Investments like these have allowed NSAC to become a destination of choice for some of the world’s top research talent.”

This investment will be used to leverage additional funds for a total project value of $662,000.

The Atlantic Research Centre for Agricultural Genomics is housed within the newly renovated molecular wing of the Department of Plant and Animal Sciences at NSAC. The Centre was established to meet the day-to-day needs of NSAC researchers whose work relies on genomics and molecular biological methodologies. These CFI funds will help to acquire leading edge instrumentation for gene expression analysis, genotyping and DNA sequencing as well as sample processing and Laboratory Information Management Systems.

Over the past several years, the Centre has contributed to research in a number of projects including the university’s contribution to the Canadian scrapie resistance genotyping program in sheep, an international collaboration in mink genomics, a collaborative program that resulted in the identification of the first of a series of molecular markers for reproductive longevity in mammals and the NSAC’s participation in the Genome Canada-funded potato genome project.

“The modern world of agricultural science will look increasingly to critical advances in the molecular sciences, to innovative technologies for improvements in animal use and care and to value-added foods and their health benefits” said Dr. T. Philip Hicks, President of NSAC. “These advances accrue from such twenty-first century approaches.”

Funding for this project is part of a major $422,343,180 investment announced today by the CFI to support 86 projects at 35 institutions across the country, an investment which marked the inauguration of two new CFI funds. $141,449,405 was awarded under the Leading Edge Fund (LEF), designed to enable institutions to build on and enhance already successful and productive initiatives supported by past CFI investment. Another $183,429,964 million was awarded under the New Initiatives Fund (NIF), designed to enhance Canada’s capacity in promising new areas of research and technology development. Finally, $97,463,811was awarded under the already existing Infrastructure Operating Fund, which assists institutions with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with the new infrastructure.

“This grant recognizes the leading edge research being done at NSAC,” said Dr.Jamie Muir, MLA Truro-Bible Hill. “The work being done at The Atlantic Research Centre for Agricultural Genomics has implications for agricultural practices worldwide.”

A complete list of projects funded today by the CFI can be found at: http://www.innovation.ca.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.