Innovation Anthology #48: Team Leader Operations Research
As we know from the recent trans-fat scare, not all fats are equal. And some fats we shouldn�t eat at all.
On the other hand, omega three fatty acids like those found in fish are essential to good human health.
But there may not be enough fish to supply the North American market.
That�s where the new field of genomics comes in. Using molecular biology, scientists can take the attributes of genes in one organism to enhance those in another.
Dr. Randall Weselake is one of Canada�s leading lipid researchers. And he�s involved in several projects with Genome Alberta and Genome Canada.
DR. RANDALL WESELAKE: We can look at the development of crops with fatty acids. that can substitute for fish. With dwindling fish stocks and toxins in fish, we can start looking at a land-based source of fatty acids that are similar to those we find in fish.
Some of those attributes are in flax. Flax needs a bit more work but we have the possibility to develop plants using a combination of traditional breeding approaches as well as genetic engineering .
Increasing the oil content of plants is also good news for other applications, such as bio-diesel.
Thanks today to Genome Alberta.
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY,
I�M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
Ron Kube, PhD,
Syncrude Canada Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
Sponsor
Program Date: 2007-07-12