As a participant in two research projects that are funded by Genome Canada and Genome Quebec, I am especially interested in the recent news reports of Jean Charest’s current visit to Chicago where he is announcing several major investments in genomics-based research.

But what does genomics mean to you? I can understand how difficult it is to explain research projects in laymen’s terms but the coverage of yesterday’s announcement is especially thin. Those of you who read the article probably know that about $40 million will go to seven projects headed by Genome Quebec. What they don’t really say is what these projects are all about.

I went to the Genome Canada web page, and collected links to the general description for the seven new projects.

An Integrated Genetic/Physical Genome Map for the Old World Monkey, Cercopithecus aethiops - McGill University.

Arborea II: Genomics for Molecular Breeding in Softwood trees. Discovery of Gene Markers to Enhance the Productivity and Value of Spruce through Integrated Functional Genomics and Association Mapping - Laval University.

Functional Annotation of Essential Alternatively Spliced Isoforms - Sherbrooke University.

Genomics and Public Health (GPH): Building Public “Goods”? - Universite de Montreal.

Identification and Characterization of Genes Involved in Common Developmental Brain Diseases - McGill University and Universite de Montreal.

Pharmacogenomics of Drug Efficacy and Toxicity in the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease - McGill University and Montreal Heart Institute.

The GRID Project: Gene Regulators in Disease - McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre.

Another announcement is expected shortly about a project in collaboration with Merck Frosst and Montreal-based researchers. That one is directly related to one of my research field but I’ll keep my mouth shut for a few more hours.

In a third entry, I’ll talk some more about one of our project that was cited as an example on Radio-Canada this morning.

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