Funding pooled to combat listeria bacteria in food

A group of federal, provincial and industry players have banded together to provide $1.4 million for a genomics research project to combat the listeria bacteria in food. The project is led by Dr Linda Chui, a researcher at the Univ of Alberta and will sequence and map the genomes of many listeria strains to identify which are most harmful to human health. Genome Canada (through Genome Alberta) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are each contributing $250,000 to the research while Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions is providing $100,000. The remainder is leveraging co-funding from an assortment of federal, provincial, academic and industry partners including Maple Leaf Foods….