Inside these walls
Can a building cure disease and save lives? Of course not. But the discoveries made inside its walls can.
When complete, U of G’s $144-million science complex will provide top Canadian scientists like Frances Sharom and Joseph Lam with the facilities and tools they need to improve the health of Canadians.
Sharom aims to understand how cancer cells become resistant to drugs and develop new treatments for improving chemotherapy. She’s a biochemist who holds a Canada Research Chair in Membrane Protein Biology, but she also directs Guelph’s Biophysics Interdepartmental Group graduate program. That mixture of chemistry, biology and physics speaks to the cross-disciplinary work in her lab and to the design of a building that enables researchers from a variety of departments to collaborate on the study of biological processes.
Lam’s lab provides broad-based training for a new generation of researchers who are studying the underlying mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that accounts for the majority of pulmonary infections and deaths in people with cystic fibrosis. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Cystic Fibrosis and Microbial Biology.
Artists exhibit on the world stage
U of G fine art professors Kim Kozzi and Sai Skuse (Fastwurms) represented Canada in the 17th Sãao Paulo Art Biennial in Brazil from October to December. Only three Canadian groups were chosen to showcase their work at the 2006 biennial with 118 other international artists.
A new way of doing business
 Last year, the University of Guelph launched a new College of Management and Economics (CME) to address the need for business graduates with specific skill sets and a commitment to sustainable commerce.
The timing was right. Guelph business programs are already well-established and well-respected. Student interest in management and business-related programs has risen dramatically over the last few years, and many employers seek out Guelph graduates because they possess industry-specific skills and leadership abilities.
Understanding the universe
What makes up the stuff of the universe, from the innards of distant stars to the elements inside you? We are one step closer to the answers since the successful startup of a multi-million-dollar instrument considered the “Hubble telescope of nuclear physics.” It was developed by an international group of scientists under the direction of Guelph physics professor Carl Svensson.
The most advanced detector of its kind, the TIGRESS (TRIUMF-ISAC Gamma Ray Escape Suppressed Spectrometer) instrument is housed at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics research in British Columbia.
Carl Svensson Svensson says the instrument will help scientists learn how stars form the basic elements that make up all matter in the universe. “All the elements you and I and everything else are made up of at some point were cooked up in the interior of some ancient star,” he says, adding that “to understand the origins of the heavier elements, you have to understand nuclear reactions in these stars.”
Now midway through a grant to design and build TIGRESS, the U of G-led consortium will take three more years to complete the project. There are about 70 scientists at 17 institutions across Canada, the United States and Europe involved in the project.
A healthy alternative to trans fats
Alejandro Marangoni
Food scientist Alejandro Marangoni heads an international research team that has developed a healthy alternative to artery-clogging trans fats.
They found a new way to package oils and change them into a solid fat-like gel. In addition to providing a heart-healthy recipe for processed foods, the new structured oil regulates the release of lipids into the body, which may help fend off obesity and diabetes.
“People talk about controlled release in prescription drugs; we’re talking about controlled release of food components,” says Marangoni, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Food and Soft Materials. “It’s a completely different kind of chemistry.”
He says that finding the correct formula to convert mixtures of oil, water, monoglycerides and fatty acids into a gel was relatively straightforward. The key challenge was to change oil, which is liquid at room temperature, to fat, which is solid at room temperature. They’ve refined their work in the lab and now want to validate their results with actual food studies.
Good bacteria tackle the bad
Shayan Sharif Giving chickens probiotics – dietary supplements that contain live beneficial bacteria – stimulates their immune system and reduces the Salmonella bacteria in their gut by more than 99 per cent, says pathobiology professor Shayan Sharif. He worked with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on a study that shows chickens treated with probiotics early in life may be better protected against disease-causing microbes. This is important to consumers because it would reduce the risk of Salmonella being present in chicken products. “There’s also hope that probiotics could work as a replacement for antibiotics,” says Sharif.
Increasingly, Guelph research initiatives cross the boundaries of traditional disciplines. We are making great strides in bringing together students and professors at the crossroads of discovery.
A leader in research
For the fifth year in a row, the University of Guelph has been recognized as Canada’s top comprehensive research institution in a Research Infosource report published in the National Post. The report ranks Canada’s “Top 50 Research Universities” based on sponsored research income. U of G was first among universities without a medical school and
13th overall with research income of nearly $126 million.
Engineers target mad cow disease
Gordon Hayward Profs. Gordon Hayward and Warren Stiver in the School of Engineering are developing a simple, inexpensive sensor for quick detection of brain-wasting infections related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad-cow disease, in cattle. The Guelph invention is an acoustic prion sensor whose quartz crystals detect the telltale misfolding of prion proteins from samples of nerve tissues, bodily fluids and environmental samples. Working with scientists at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa, Hayward and Stiver have shown that their device can distinguish between normal samples and brain tissue of sheep infected with scrapie and deer with chronic wasting disease. They hope to develop the device to read urine and blood samples and to find a commercial partner to produce the sensors for wider use.
Ag research has big impact
A study by Science Watch magazine ranks Guelph seventh among universities worldwide for its impact on agricultural sciences. U of G was
the only Canadian university among the top 25 institutions cited for agricultural research from 1966 to 2006.
Analyzing lefties
Contrary to popular scientific belief, left-handedness is not linked to dyslexia, poorer spatial ability, homosexuality, asthma or hyperactivity, says psychology professor Michael Peters.
Michael Peters “We’ve shown on a number of tasks that there’s no difference between right- and left-handedness,” says Peters, who questioned more than a quarter million people with colleagues Stian Reimers of University College London and John Manning of the University of Central Lancashire. The survey was hosted on the BBC Science and Nature website and contained more than 150 questions about demographics, personality, sexuality, social attitudes and behaviours, as well as spatial and verbal tasks.
“Because only 10 per cent of the population is left-handed, you need a huge study group to draw any sensible conclusions,” says Peters, who was cautious about their study results until cross-checking them with lab studies. “We were impressed by how similar the prevalence figures we observed were to the figures obtained under more controlled conditions,” says Peters.
Deadly virus goes under the microscope
U of G Prof. John Lumsden, Department of Pathobiology, was the first scientist to find the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) in Lake Ontario in the Spring of 2005. The deadly virus suspected in the deaths of thousands of fish in the Great Lakes basin. Now he’s working with Profs. Rich Moccia, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, and Roz Stevenson, Molecular and Cellular Biology, to develop diagnostic tests and examine the potential impact on fish farming. They also want to know the implications for natural and farmed fish populations if the virus continues to spread.
She’s making eggs from scratch
Julang Li
Prof. Julang Li, Animal and Poultry Science, has made egg-like cells from skin stem cells taken from fetal pigs, an achievement that may offer a new route to tissue therapy for treating a variety of diseases.
Her lab developed the stem cells in a special growth medium into oocyte-like cells, some of which developed spontaneously into embryo-like structures. This is the first time a researcher working in vitro has been able to turn somatic stem cells into germ cells.
“We are certainly quite excited about it,” says Li. The discovery may offer a new way to make eggs and embryos that could avoid ethical concerns about use of embryonic tissue in therapeutic cloning.
Jim Dickey Preventing back pain
Canadian workers who drive trucks and heavy machinery are exposed to potentially harmful levels of whole-body vibration and are about four times more likely to develop low back pain. They may also suffer from other medical problems, including herniated lumbar discs, neck-shoulder pain and intestinal upset.
Prof. Jim Dickey of the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences is using rare, state-of-the-art robotic equipment to mimic the vibrations heavy-vehicle operators feel to find ways to lessen back problems. U of G has one of only a handful of “six degree of freedom” robots in the world with the capacity to move along the three axes. “We’re going into mines and logging and heavy-construction sites to measure the acceleration, velocities and jerk that drivers are exposed to, and the robot re-creates it,” said Dickey. “We want to know the relationship between these motion patterns and comfort.”
Vineland has fruitful 100 years
Vineland Research Station The University’s Vineland research station, which has provided the world with more than 150 new varieties of fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006.
“If it wasn’t for the Vineland research station, we wouldn’t have a tender fruit industry today,” said Ray Kaczmarski, manager of the research station.
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