Insect Biotech Canada

Corporate body

Insect Biotech Canada

n.d.

In the spring of 1988, the Government of Canada announced a new program to stimulate research in Canada by the establishment of Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), with funding more generous than that available through the basis NSERC and MRC research grants. Among the many to whom this prospect appealed was a group at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, who were working on several aspects of the molecular genetics of insects and insect-pathogenic viruses. The initial nucleus comprised W.G. Bendena, A.E.R. Downe, V.K. Walker and G.R. Wyatt in the Department of Biology, and E.B. Carstens and P. Faulkner in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Colleagues across Canada were contacted and a list of 25 was assembled (18 in universities and 7 in government laboratories, from British Columbia to New Brunswick) who were interested in forming a research network. With the support of Queen’s University, an application was prepared and in October, 1989, word was received that the proposal was one of 16 in various disciplines of science and engineering that had been approved. Funding was just over $2 million per year for 4 years, from July, 1990.

The name “Insect Biotech Canada” (IBC) was adopted. An Executive Director was recruited (Bruce Hutchinson), with a doctorate in organic chemistry, who had both academic and industrial experience, and his skills and dedication were crucial in keeping the group on productive tracks. Jerry Wyatt served as Scientific Director and was succeeded in 1993 by Stephen Tobe of the University of Toronto. An unpaid Board of Directors was appointed, including representatives of governments, industry and the media, as well as network scientists. The chief planning body was a Scientific Planning Committee, which included research section leaders. This group met quarterly to recommend on fund allocations and research priorities. For links to industry, Cyanamid Canada joined as an Industrial Associate, to be followed by DowElanco, plus several firms as Industrial Associates, and several more as Industrial Affiliates. Annual Scientific Meetings, held in congenial locations, brought together investigators and students with industry representatives for critical exchange of research results and to promote academic/commercial interactions. Progress was made in many projects, facilitated by collaborations between workers in different laboratories. Among these, studies on baculovirus molecular genetics focused on that of the spruce budworm, with the aim of adapting it for use in control of this uniquely Canadian pest. As a result, many of its genes were sequenced and their roles identified. Many new insect neuropeptides were discovered, their biosynthesis and actions on target cells studies, and the genes for several of them were cloned. Malathion resistance in mosquitoes was shown to result from a modified carboxylesterase produced by a mutated gene in contrast to the blowfly, where gene amplification resulted in elevated levels of unaltered enzyme. A molecular diagnostic probe was produced to distinguish Asian from European gypsy moths, which was of practical value in the field in British Columbia, and molecular markers were developed for strains of the spruce budworm and black flies. Research on juvenile hormone advanced understanding of the regulation of its synthesis by allatostatins, as well as its actions both in the nucleus, and at the cell membrane, and progress was made in identification of receptors. The locust juvenile hormone binding protein, a hormone transporter, was cloned. Other projects looked at transposons and possibilities for gene transfer. Research done under IBC laid foundations for the current Ontario Geonomics Institute funded project on genomics of the spruce budworm and its viral pathogens, and for targeted projects under the federal Biocontrol Network. A review by an international peer group in 1993 gave an overwhelmingly favourable report.

As the end of the approved four years of support approached, an application was prepared for renewal in the NCE Phase II competition; with extension of the research program giving increased emphasis on work with best species and the development of products and technological applications. Early in 1994, however, the disappointing announcement was received that, while 10 NCEs had been renewed, IBC was not among them. The Selection Committee’s report praised the network’s organization and offered little criticism of its scientific progress, but complained that the “commercial potential of the work is … very long term”, and that the financial contributions from industry and government bodies – the potential beneficiaries of the research – were disappointingly small. The 15 members of the Selection Committee, however, included only one biologist (a human geneticist).

IBC was given one month’s funding to wind down, which caused the termination of uncompleted projects and considerable hardship to students and postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Hutchinson, however, who moved into research administration at Queen’s, was able to conserve sufficient funds from non-government sources to permit the survival of IBC Inc. for annual meetings to maintain contacts and exchange research information. The vigour of the network that was formed was indicated by the continuation of these meetings, with good attendance.
In 1995, with the non-renewal of funding, the Centre of Execellence incorporated as a federal not-for-profit corporation, still based at Queen's University. It contiuned in existence until August 2007.

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