Federal grant touted as game-changer for TRU genomics lab

KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University (TRU) says a federal grant announced Wednesday (Mar. 3) will help transform the school’s Applied Genomics Laboratory into a world class facility.

As part of a half-billion-dollar announcement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, TRU will get $850,000 through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

In a news release, TRU says the funding will be used to build the TRUbI/O Network, “integrating several of TRU’s current technologies, and having a transformative impact” on the genomics lab.

TRU Professor of Microbiology Dr. Jonathan Van Hamme will direct the network along with a pair of colleagues. Van Hamme says the network will zero in on “environmental remediation and climate change, plant genome evolution, as well as agricultural systems and products.”