About 60 genetic researchers from universities across western Canada will be attending a conference at UNBC on Monday and Tuesday designed to share new results and discuss future genetic research opportunities. Attendees to the RiboWest 2007 conference will be specifically focusing on ribonucleic acid (RNA), which carries the genetic information found in DNA to carry out various functions in the body.

Over the past few years, RNA has emerged as a research strength for UNBC. For example, recent discoveries related to the growth and aggressiveness of cancer cells involved research on RNA. In addition, UNBC scientists are studying RNA in a microorganism that contributes significantly to global warming by producing methane. Other research at the University is exploring a process called RNA splicing, which occurs when genetic material is cut in various locations to create many new proteins. Errors in this splicing process are believed to cause such diseases as cancer and cystic fibrosis.

Three UNBC students – Daniel Chapman of Terrace, Brianne Burkinshaw of Prince George, and Bonnie Ollenberger of Prince George – have received $4,5oo scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to advance their research on RNA splicing. Their research looks specifically at the molecular factors that actually make splicing work.

“Our research team is comprised of 11 students and all of them will be making presentations at RiboWest, further proof that small universities can make important contributions to research at the frontiers of science,” says Biochemistry professor Stephen Rader, one of the conference organizers.

As part of the conference program, GenomeBC will be making an announcement about new funding for genetic research that will focus on six sectors of the BC economy, including fisheries, mining, and forestry. This announcement will take place on Monday, at 1pm, in the Bentley Centre.

Click here for the RiboWest conference website.

“UNBC research is at the forefront of understanding what truly makes us alive and how environmental conditions may affect our health,” adds Dr. Rader. “At the same time, we think that RNA is vital to unlocking answers about why some things just don’t work in people or why some people suffer from diseases that others don’t. These are fundamental questions and we’re helping to answer them.”

RiboWest 2007 will be held on July 30 and 31 in the Bentley Centre and the Dr. Donald Rix Northern Health Sciences Centre on campus. It is being supported by General Electric Healthcare, Genome BC, Integrated DNA Technologies, ESBE Scientific, MediCorp, and Qiagen.

Contact:
Stephen Rader, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology professor, UNBC – 250.960.6216
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622
  

Click on a thumbnail below to access the high-resolution file.

 

RNA researchers at UNBC: Heath de la Giroday, Sepehr Masoumi-Alamouti, Bonnie Ollenberger, Daniel Chapman, Elizabeth Chester, Paul Kahlke, Brianne Burkinshaw, Stephen Rader, Kamalprit Chohan (front), and Martha Stark (back).

 

Scholarship recipients Daniel Chapman, Brianne Burkinshaw, and Bonnie Ollenberger. 

 

Brianne Burkinshaw places RNA gels in a saline solution to make the RNA more visible.