High-throughput RNA analysis platform unveiled in Quebec

Sherbrooke, QC – Genome Quebec and the University of Sherbrooke have announced the creation of the Genome Quebec and Universite de Sherbrooke RNomics Platform. The initiative was launched at the inauguration of a new functional genomics laboratory at the university on November 3.

Financed jointly with $2.2 million by Genome Quebec and the university, the platform will be integrated with research activities of the universitys faculty of medicine and health sciences. It will offer researchers and clinicians automated services allowing for high-throughput analysis of data on the molecular genetics of RNA, and will allow for the comparative study of normal and cancerous tissues.

The creation of the functional genomics laboratory and the RNomics platform is credited to professors Sherif Abou Elela, Benoit Chabot and their collaborators. The functional genomics laboratory has been operating since 2003.

The platform will be managed and operated by Genome Quebec and will offer its services to the Canadian academic community at preferential and favourable rates. In line with the model developed for its two other platforms in Montreal (the McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre and the Genome Quebec and Montreal Heart Institute Pharmacogenomics Centre), the organization says that surplus capacity will be made available to the private sector at market rates.