The genome of the Giant’s Dot Lichen—a Canadian species discovered in 2019—is sequenced as part of the CanSeq150 project.
Timeline
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Lichen Genome Sequenced
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Molecular subgroups of PNEN
Four new molecular subgroups of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms identified through research done in Dr. Sharon Gorski's lab.
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Quality Clinical Care
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC Diagnostic Accreditation Program (DAP) gave full accreditation to GSC facilities.
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Single Cell RNA sequencing
GSC researchers developed a new method of single-cell RNA sequencing published in Frontiers in Genetics.
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Dr. Adi Stief
Dr. Adi Steif joined the GSC to continue research on large-scale genetic, transcriptomic and epigenetic profiling of tissues at the single cell level using statistical machine learning approaches.
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Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
Dr. Marco Marra was one of six outstanding individuals inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
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Molecular Biology of Colorectal Cancer
Research by Dr. Isabella Tai's lab provided insight into the molecular biology of colorectal cancer.
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New GSC Faculty
The GSC welcomed Dr. Laura Evgin, who’s research is focused on Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T cells and oncolytic viruses, and Dr. Alexander Wyatt, who studies metastatic genitourinary cancers, including prostate and bladder cancer.
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International Effort to Sequence Cervical Cancers in Ugandan women
Analysis of the genomic characteristics of cervical cancers in Ugandan women, led by Dr. Marco Marra, published in Nature Genetics.
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Team Science Award
The American Association for Cancer Research presented the Cancer Genome Atlas—which several members of the GSC have contributed to including Drs. Marco Marra, Steven Jones, and Gordon Robertson— with a team science award.
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COVID-19
GSC became one of four Canadian institutions to use genome science to better understand COVID-19 infection.
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POG 570
Nature Cancer published data from the first 570 patients studied through the POG program and featured the article on its cover.
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The GSC turned 20
On November 15, 2019 the GSC celebrated its 20th anniversary with an Open House and a Scientific Symposium.
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Marathon of Hope
GSC joined the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network with the goal of advancing precision medicine by working collaboratively and sharing data.
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Canada Research Chair for Computational Genomics
Dr. Steven. Jones appointed Canada Research Chair for Computational Genomics, part of an initiative by the Government of Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation to fund Canada Research Chairs at 52 institutions across Canada for research excellence.
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Stellar Sea Lion Genome Sequenced
The stellar sea lion genome sequenced as part of a GSC study led by Dr. Steven Jones. Results are published in Genes.
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Information Security
The GSC achieved ISO27001 certification—one of the highest standards for information security management in the world.
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Mining Genomes for Antimicrobial Peptides
Dr. Inanc Birol developed a new technique, published in Scientific Reports, to mine novel antimicrobial therapies from the genomes of a variety of species, aiding in the global fight against antibiotic resistance.
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Silent Genomes Project
The Silent Genomes Project, which aims to reduce health care disparities and improve diagnostic success for children with genetic diseases from Indigenous populations, was launched. In this documentary, Dr. Nadine Caron, First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness, Senior Scientist at the GSC and member of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, discussed her role in the project.
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Grizzly Bear Genome Sequenced
The grizzly bear genome sequenced as part of a GSC study led by Dr. Steven Jones. Results are published in Genes.
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CanSeq150
In recognition of Canada's 150th anniversary, the GSC joined other Canadian genome centres in CanSeq150, aiming to sequence the genomes of 150 iconic Canadian species. The GSC has since sequenced the beluga whale, grizzly bear, sea otter, sea lion and several others.
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Northern Biobank
Dr. Caron received $1.25 million from Genome British Columbia for the Northern Biobank Initiative to address a growing risk that rural and remote communities in B.C. could be excluded from significant advances made in genomic research and precision medicine.
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1,000,000,000,000,000 base-pairs of DNA
On December 22 2015, the GSC reached the 1 petabase milestone, generating the 1,000,000,000,000,000th base-pair of DNA sequence.
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Reference Epigenomes
The GSC, as part of the International Human Epigenome Consortium and under leadership of Dr. Martin Hirst, contributed to the analysis of over 111 reference human epigenomes published in Nature.
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Prostate Cancer Therapeutics
Dr. Marianne Sadar discovered a completely novel drug to treat prostate cancer; in 2015, EPI-506 entered clinical trails for use in treatment-resistant patients.
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Investigating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Dr. Sharon Gorski published a study in Clinical Cancer Research demonstrating that autophagy inhibition improves treatment efficacy in triple-negative breast cancer.
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GSC Scientists Among the World's Most Infuential Minds
Since 2014, several GSC scientists have been recognized as among the World's Most Influential Minds by Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics. Eleven GSC scientists were listed again in 2020.
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Spruce Genomics
GSC scientists, led by Dr. Inanc Birol, published in Bioinformatics the complete sequence and assembly of the White Spruce genome which, at 20 gigabases, was the largest genome ever sequenced at the time.
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Dr. Martin Hirst
Dr. Martin Hirst became Head of Epigenomics at the GSC, conducting research focused on understanding epigenetic dysfunction in cancer.
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Medulloblastoma Advanced Genomics International Consortium
The GSC joined the Medulloblastoma Advanced Genomics International Consortium (MAGIC), which aims to use genome science to define and understand subgroups of medulloblastoma, the most common childhood brain cancer.
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Dr. Marianne Sadar
Dr. Marianne Sadar, who’s research focuses on the development of therapeutics for prostate cancer, became a Distinguished Scientist at the GSC.
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Cancer and Microbes
Dr. Robert Holt published the first evidence of a link between colorectal cancer and Fusobacterium nucleatum in Genome Research, highlighting the link between microbes and cancer. The study was named as one of Time Magazine's top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2011.
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Informing Patient Care
The GSC was the first in the world to demonstrate the use of whole genome analysis to inform cancer patient treatment planning, published in Genome Biology, ushering in a new era of personalized cancer care.
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Insights Into Lymphoma
Dr. Ryan Morin published a study in Nature Genetics describing recurrent somatic mutations in EZH2 in follicular and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.
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Assembling Genomes
Dr. Inanc Birol created novel computational methods for analyzing and assembling the data produced from next generation sequencers, including the award winning ABySS genome assembler now used by bioinformaticians worldwide.
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Visualizing Genomics Data
GSC Staff Scientist Martin Krzywinski developed a novel way to visualize complex genomics data elegantly and efficiently using a method called Circos, published in Genome Research and now used by scientists worldwide.
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Centre for Clinical Genomics
Dr. Aly Karsan led the launch of the Centre for Clinical Genomics, which became the first College of American Pathologists (CAP) certified lab to use next generation sequencing technologies for cancer diagnostics, drastically reducing patient wait times for genetic testing.
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Advancing Epigenetics
In one of the first applications of next generation sequencing, Dr. Martin Hirst developed a technique to analyze the epigenome, known as ChIP-seq, published in Nature Methods. The method is now commonly used by researchers worldwide.
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Next Generation Sequencing
The GSC was one of only four genome centres in the world to receive a next generation DNA sequencer (Solexa, which was later bought by Illumina), a technology that revolutionized the modern field of genomics.
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The Cancer Genome Atlas
The GSC became the only international participant in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a landmark project in cancer genomics which to date has characterized tumours from 33 different cancer types.
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Dr. Inanc Briol
Dr. Inanc Briol joined the GSC as a staff scientist to later become Distinguished Scientist and Director of the Bioinformatics Technology Lab.
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Dr. Sharon Gorski
Distinguished Scientist Dr. Sharon Gorski, who's research focuses on cell death and cell survival pathways in breast and pancreatic cancer, joined the GSC as a junior scientist.
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Dr. Gregg Morin
Dr. Gregg Morin joined GSC to establish a proteomic suite and continue his research on the genetic nature of lymphoid cancers.
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Dr. Isabella Tai
Dr. Isabella Tai, a senior MD/PhD scientist with an interest in understanding the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance, metastasis and tumour progression in gastrointestinal cancers, joined the GSC.
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Sequencing of SARS
Scientists at the GSC were the first in the world to sequence the SARS coronavirus, providing vital information for disease control.
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The Healthy Aging Study
Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson launched the Healthy Aging Study, aiming to understand genes that promote long-term good health in ‘super seniors’.
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Dr. Robert Holt
Dr. Robert Holt, Distinguished Scientist and Co-Director of the BC Cancer Immunotherapy Program, joined the GSC.
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Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson
Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson joined the GSC as a distinguished scientist investigating the genetic basis of cancer susceptibility, specifically lymphoid cancers.
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The Human Genome Project
GSC researchers contributed significantly to the first working draft of the complete human genome, published in a seminal Nature paper with Drs. Marco Marra and Steven Jones listed as authors.
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Genome Sciences Centre opened its doors at BC Cancer
