Lab bucks donated

By Stephanie Shewchuk

A new systems biology laboratory will be set up at the University of Calgary as a result of a donation announced last week by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Under the CFI’s New Opportunities Program, over $1.8 million in funding will be alloc-ated for several research programs.

In order to establish a cell biology lab, the university’s Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics will receive the largest portion of the grant, an estimated $710,307. Dr. Stuart Kauffman and his team hope to use the funds to develop new approaches to cancer therapy.

The Centre for Integrative Chronobiology was also singled out to receive approximately $80,000. Project leader Michael Antle stressed the importance of deciphering the biological clock.

“It’s the key to human applications,” he said. “Things like jet lag or being a shift worker work against circadian rhythms and we want to find out how to tweak what the body wants, instead of fighting our own biology.”