BioAlberta

BioAlberta chose National Biotechnology Week in late September to release its State of the Industry 2009 Report. And, to no one’s surprise, the long tentacles of the global recession touched even Alberta’s biotechnology sector
“It’s been a tough year,” says BioAlberta President Ryan Radke.
“The life science industry in Alberta is not immune to what’s going on [...]

Radient Technologies Leaves Lotus Land for Edmonton

Radient Technologies Inc has pulled up stakes and is moving from Vancouver to Edmonton.
This is good news for the Edmonton’s biotechnology sector which has experienced some tough times over the past few months.
Radient has commercialized technology first developed by Environment Canada for use in environmental remediation. Called a microwave assisted solvent extraction process, it [...]

APrON Study Seeks Help from Pregnant Women

What impact nutrition has on the mental health of pregnant women and the development of their babies is the focus of a new study called APrON—Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition.
This study funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medication Research, is currently seeking participants from Edmonton and Calgary, and is designed to follow 10,000 pregnant [...]

Alberta and Texas collaborate on Nanotech and Energy

The two leading nanotechnology research centres in North America are located at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Now, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Premier Ed Stelmach and David Leebron, president of Rice University, these two research agencies are combining their expertise to advance work on [...]

Social Media 101

Does social media influence decision-makers?
“I hope that governments wake up and take notice,” said Sue Huff, an Edmonton Public School Board Trustee, when asked how governments should address the influence that social media seemingly provides. “There needs to be a willingness to share power and more genuine communication by politicians. I think people have felt [...]

Goodbye, Alberta Bonjour, Québec

Picomole Instruments Inc. is leaving town.
Company founder and CEO Dr. John Cormier is relocating his company to Quebec City. In the works is an exciting new partnership with a yet to be revealed Quebec company which will help Picomole turn its prototype into a commercial product.
While the move is Edmonton’s loss, this is [...]

Innovotech receives green light for sale of bioFILM PA™ test

In June, writer Greg Gazin interviewed Ken Boutilier, president and CEO of Innovotech Inc. for the July issue of Edmontonians. The focus of the article was the company’s breakthrough test that allows doctors to more accurately identify the right antibiotics required to treat serious, chronic infections that are biofilm based. Since at least 80 per [...]

Will nano crystalline cellulose save our forest products industry?

According to forestry giant George Weyerhauser Jr., trees will play a big role in the nano revolution, and nano crystalline cellulose will be the hot new raw material.
Nano crystalline cellulose comes from all parts of the tree where cellulose and lignin are broken down into their molecular components. Then through nano fabrication, these molecules [...]

The mystery of misfolded prions

Transmission is a big question for scientists studying prion disease. Misfolded prions are associated with mad cow and chronic wasting disease. What makes the misfolded prion infectious within a species, and what stops it from being transmitted between different species?
In his research, University of Alberta biochemist John Paul Glaves studied fragments of peptide fibrils or [...]

Artificial lake to replace Syncrude Oilsands Mine

In 2012, Syncrude will finish a pit where it has been  mining oil sands over the last two decades. In its place, the company will build a huge experimental lake it is calling Base Mine Lake.
As Syncrude’s technology development officer Jim Lorentz explains, dried tailings left over from oil sands production will form the lake [...]