This editorial by Dr. Rob Annan and Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa first appeared on sciencepolicy.ca.
As we approach the difficult two-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada against a backdrop of ongoing suffering and uncertainty, genomics continues to play a critical role in evolving pandemic responses. Through an unparalleled coordinated pan-Canadian effort—the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN)—genomics data is helping track virus transmission across the country, understand host responses, inform policy decisions in real time and guide testing and tracing strategies, vaccine development and drug treatments—ultimately protecting the health of Canadians.
An early mover in genomics science and innovation, Canada is now a global leader. At Genome Canada, our COVID-19 response through CanCOGeN has shown the transformational impact of genomics when we make it our goal to work across the genomics ecosystem and translate the ideas and technologies generated through research and innovation into tangible impacts for Canada. That’s why we have adopted a challenge-based approach to mobilize Canada’s genomics research capacity and strengths to help solve other complex health, economic, social and environmental global challenges.
As we come out of this global health pandemic we must confront the other great global challenge of our generation: climate change.
How can genomics contribute to efforts to solve this problem?
There is already significant work happening in Canada, generating powerful impacts that harness genomic science and innovation on understanding, mitigating and strengthening our resilience to global climate change and moving towards a net-zero carbon future for Canada. Perhaps it’s not well known that the Canadian genomics ecosystem has provided innovative solutions in the following areas:
- cutting pollution from the oil and gas and mining sectors through, for example, developing monitoring tools and innovative biological solutions to better control contaminants in waste water;
- advancing climate-smart agriculture to increase resilient production of crops;
- developing pest- and climate-resistant trees;
- reducing methane emissions of dairy cattle;
- breeding Atlantic salmon and shellfish resistant to climate change; and
- driving biodiversity monitoring, surveillance and management.
Furthermore, the Canadian genomics community is among world leaders in this field and is ready to respond. In a series of three roundtables and a public townhall last fall with the national and international genomics community and other partners, we explored some key questions: What will the future of Canadian genomics look like? How will we get there? What are the opportunities and challenges? What must be in place to achieve success? Participants emphasized the need for better and sustained coordination of the genomics ecosystem to meet common goals or solve grand challenges. Among major challenges, climate change was identified as a leading issue where genomics could have a major impact in the short- and medium-term if we could quickly mobilize the scientific, human resource, infrastructure and data capacity already present in the Canadian genomics community.
Finally, global challenges need a broad, cross-sectoral, coordinated approach—with all hands on deck. Climate change is a cross-cutting federal policy priority with a commitment to reach net-zero by 2050 and a more ambitious target to reduce emissions by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2030. Recent COP26 commitments focus on reducing methane, oil and gas emissions and scaling up action on oceans, forests and “nature-based solutions”. Individual departments will advance aligned climate actions through a green agricultural plan, a blue economy strategy and the two billion trees initiative. Canada is allocating at least 20% of its $5.3 billion climate finance commitment to nature-based climate solutions with biodiversity co-benefits in developing countries over the next five years. Organizations and institutions across the country are mobilizing to support these efforts, and genomics has an important part to play as part of the broad, societal response.
Looking forward, the use and implementation of genomic technologies to help mitigate and adapt to climate change is vast. Genomics will contribute meaningfully to bioremediation, biodiversity monitoring and surveillance, and biological innovation for carbon and methane capture, use and storage, to drive emissions reduction; explore ways to develop and scale genomics-enabled pest- and climate-resistant tree varieties to support the planting of two billion trees; help expand biomanufacturing through biomass and bioproducts research and innovation; and continue to improve agricultural practices to make crops more resilient to a changing climate and accelerate climate-smart export agriculture. We have invested in fundamental genomics research for more than 20 years—that investment allows us to apply our knowledge, technologies and people to confront the major challenges of our time.
As with all Genome Canada initiatives—whether on COVID, precision health, or climate change—our work will be informed by and co-created with a diverse set of stakeholders, communities and end users across Canada to ensure it equitably and inclusively benefits everyone and to ensure the technology is deployed responsibly and for maximum benefit. An impact-focused, challenge-driven approach helps Genome Canada ensure the power and promise of genomics will be shared by all of us.
Co-Authored by Genome Canada President and CEO, Dr. Rob Annan, and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa. Genome Canada is a national not-for-profit organization that addresses Canada’s greatest challenges and opportunities through research and innovation in genomics and associated biosciences. With a 21-year track record of impact across communities, a pan-Canadian network of six regional Genome Centres, and strong partnerships across the public, private, non-profit and academic sectors at home and internationally, we work to translate research into real-world solutions in health, climate action and food security.