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Canadian Partners Get Genome Canada Funding to Build DivSeek Bioinformatics Resource

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genome British Columbia, Genome Canada, and Genome Prairie have partnered to help build an online bioinformatics resource for the DivSeek initiative using approximately C$800,000 ($644,000) in funding through Genome Canada's Emerging Issues program.

DivSeek — short for Diversity Seek — was established in 2015 to support the genomic characterization of the 7 million crop accessions currently being stored at gene banks around the world. According to Genome British Columbia, a team led by researchers from the University of British Columbia aims to build the bioinformatics resource — which will initially include tools for the sunflower, flax, and lentil breeding communities — on Compute Canada's advanced research computing system. The resource may later be extended to other Canadian crops.

"This investment holds international significance and is the culmination of years of collaboration," Genome British Columbia CSO Catalina Lopez-Correa said in a statement. "DivSeek Canada will ensure that these resources are available and accessible so that people from around the world can make use of this information to develop better and more resilient crops."

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