Meristem: Wheat Science

Canadian scientists are riding a powerful new wave of progress in genomics and proteomics. Can Prairie agriculture cash in?

Genomics and proteomics represent breathtaking revolutions in science. But for Prairie crops and the industry that depends on them, the "omics" that matters most is economics, says Dr. Peter Freeman.

Freeman is Executive Director of the Alberta Network for Proteomics Innovation (ANPI), an organization started by Alberta universities to co-ordinate funding support for core facilities and platform technologies in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics. ANPI was formed in 2000 with $16 million in infrastructure and operating funds, part of an estimated $85 million in funding from public and private partners, used to launch and develop core facilities across the province and to support an emerging research "post-genomic" science areas.

Freeman answers questions on the rise of the "gene jockeys" - his term for scientists in genomics and proteomics - the opportunities these science areas represent and what Canada needs to do to cash in on their potential.

A:Genomics is based on sequencing the genetic code of an organism's DNA. A simple comparison is to think about it as getting all the letters in a book into the right order and then sorting the letters into proper words and sentences. Even then, only some of the words and sentences contain instructions for making things happen. These are the organisms' genes. Identifying functional genes and linking them to events taking place in cells, tissues and organisms is called functional genomics to distinguish it from the basic sequencing efforts of genomics.

Proteomics is an extension of genomics. Genes contain the instructions for making proteins. So where genomics deals with the blueprint, proteomics deals with the working parts. It is important to understand which proteins are being made at any one time or in different tissues, or under different stresses and how these proteins work. With this knowledge, we can make changes to the proteome either directly or via the genome, to get the effects we want.

In terms of progress, what we're in right now isn't so much a genomics era as a post-genomics era. The ability to sequence genomes, the most obvious example being the Human Genome Project, was not so much an era as a quantum leap. However, following the initial explosion of new techniques and capabilities, genomics itself has become more automated and routine. In contrast, the post-genomics era is likely to be a true era. It will be a long, painstaking period of using the information and capabilities made available by genomics and sequencing efforts in order to unravel the causes and cures for diseases and improve crop performance.

A:Genomics has expanded the toolkit available to crop breeders in selecting breeding lines, making crosses and assessing the outcome of those crosses in terms of agronomic and end use potential.

Potentially, breeders and molecular biologists will be able to precisely tailor varieties for resistance to diseases like Fusarium, and for end use qualities desired by the marketplace, such as specific flavour characteristics.

Approaches will range from targeted breeding, using molecular markers and other genomics tools, to the production of GMO crops, but for many crops the latter will only occur if, and when, the marketplace is ready to accept that approach. Either way, it has to be remembered that to target these advances using genomics, the basic genetics and biochemistry of the effects being sought will have to be unraveled. That painstaking work is the essence of the post-genomics era.

A:In such a new and rapidly developing field, Canada is very well placed. We have benefited from major injections in infrastructure and personnel support by federal agencies such as Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada and various provincial initiatives. However, it has to be remembered that the work being facilitated is of a very early stage and the practical applications will not hit the marketplace for several years.

Overall, we are doing as well as can be expected given the level of funding available for such fundamental research. The most important of the 'omics' - economics - impacts research and development. We need to improve both the level of funding and co-ordination of that funding for 'omics' research. Efforts should include not just the fundamental research and development, but communication and selling of its value in the marketplace. A special effort is needed to explain the value of the technologies as a toolkit whose use goes beyond the obvious GMO applications.

The GMO controversy will ultimately be resolved and the use of genomic technologies in crop improvement and generation of products with novel end uses will accelerate. Therefore, we need to keep up the momentum in understanding the technologies and techniques that will underpin progress and market opportunities in the future.

Q: What is the role of the malting and brewing industry and how well are we doing?

A:The scientists in these genomics and proteomics - the 'gene jockeys' - are driving unprecedented opportunity for innovation. However, it is perhaps ironic today, when these emerging technologies are allowing us to revisit and build upon the knowledge generated in the past, that industry's engagement in the research process has become less active.

The danger in moving from a position of active engagement in the generation of new knowledge lies in the potential loss of 'absorptive capacity,' as described by the authors Cohen and Levinthal. According to these authors, once an organization ceases investing in its absorptive capacity in a quickly moving field, it may never assimilate and exploit new information in that field, regardless of the value of that information.

If we are to capture our full potential, it's clear Canadian industry must become more engaged in genomics and proteomics research and in facilitating the adoption of the knowledge and technology it produces. The time is now. The momentum we build in the next several years will have a major impact on where we stand a decade or more into the future.

Related article on westerngrains.com: Tapping new science power for malting barley

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