UBC’s Nobel prize winner Michael Smith has been named director of the first
research centre in Canada devoted to decoding human genes.
The $25-million Genome Sequence Centre, a project of the B.C. Cancer Agency,
will be focused on cancer research. Headquartered in Vancouver, it will
collaborate with laboratories worldwide on the International Human Genome
Project whose goal is to decode all of the human genes by 2005.
“This unique effort will help Canada make significant contributions to
international science in general and to cancer treatment in particular,” says
Smith, who is the Peter Wall Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology at UBC.
“A genome sequence centre in B.C. will attract activity in the biomedical
research sector and in industries. It will encourage companies to work here and
take advantage of the technology and information that will be developed.”
Smith will lead a team of over 30 scientists from UBC, the B.C. Cancer Research
Centre, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University to establish the
centre which is expected to open in the fall of 1998.
Genome science identifies and decodes all of a living organism’s genes.
By decoding the sequence of genes in the human genome, which is estimated to
contain 100,000 genes, and identifying when the order is incorrect scientists
may find the cause of a genetic disease.
UBC has already made significant contributions to the International Human
Genome Project through its participation in the Canadian Genetic Diseases
Network which is based at the university.
