UNews - Dustin Smith

GreenSTEM funding supports startup dsBioscience Inc. as it builds off iGEM project success

trevor.kenney — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 15:00:05 +0000

Have you ever wondered how clean surfaces really are — even after you’ve tried to disinfect them? What’s really there and what can you do to ensure invisible microbes and pathogens are gone?

Dustin Smith

Spurred on by the continued development of a gold medal winning iGEM (international genetically engineered machine) project and start-up funding from GreenSTEM, Dustin Smith’s fledgling dsBioscience Inc. may one day have that answer at your fingertips. Smith’s company provides metagenome analysis services. In short, he uses technology that focuses on directly sequencing DNA from samples to determine what microbes or viruses are present.

“It has utility in a wide range of applications, including the health-care sector, bioremediation and water testing,” says Smith (BSc ’13, MSc ’17), who’s currently pursuing a PhD in biomolecular science after earning both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in biochemistry at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. “This all started in 2016 with the U of L iGEM team and a project we worked on with Lethbridge EMS when they asked us to help them evaluate cleaning practices in their emergency services vehicles.”

The project, which characterized the microbial community within ambulances, won gold at the annual iGEM World Jamboree. It also garnered industry attention.

“After the study was published in 2019, I was able to apply for funding through the Alberta GreenSTEM program, which supports start-ups that hope to spin off academic technologies to form viable businesses,” he says. “We always thought this would be a useful venture to explore based on the fact it was driven by an industry need.”

The GreenSTEM program has been invaluable in helping Smith get dsBioscience Inc. off the ground.

“Aside from the financial aspect, which gave us the funding to explore whether there’s a viable business opportunity, we have access to valuable mentoring from other fellows who are all going through the same challenges of starting a business,” he says. “In our advisor panels we have a mix of people with scientific backgrounds and those with industry or business backgrounds. It really gives us a comprehensive view of our business.”

Smith foresees a number of applications for metagenome analysis. In addition to health care, he envisions examining what microbes are present in tailings ponds or pit lakes in various stages of remediation, and then using that information to forward engineer better remediation processes. And while that will require much greater development of the technology, the fact he can now see a path forward as a viable business is a huge step.

“With the timing of COVID, this definitely put these types of uses more in the spotlight,” he says. “My main focus currently is evaluating market potential and what's the most useful way I could use this technology to help with industry. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s exciting.”

U of L graduate students earn GreenSTEM funding in support of biotech start-up

trevor.kenney — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 21:16:06 +0000

The southern Alberta biotech industry will get a boost this spring thanks to some innovative work out of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and funding support from the Government of Alberta’s GreenSTEM program.

Harland Brandon

Allos Bioscience, a start-up company that designs and produces protein-based biosensors, is led by PhD candidates Luc Roberts (BSc ’12) and Harland Brandon (BSc ’13). The two, with support from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), its director Dr. H.J. Wieden, Dr. Wade Abbott of the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre and Synbridge (the synthetic biology makerspace on campus), are members of the first cohort of GreenSTEM fellows in the province.

Luc Roberts

“With the funding from GreenSTEM and the support of Synbridge and the Wieden lab, we now have the opportunity to leverage the rich infrastructure here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” says Roberts. “Without this funding, I doubt we ever would have attempted to do it. They partner you with business mentors, provide training opportunities and really help you create the foundation for your business. We actually came into the program after the first cohort was selected and the first thing we noticed was how supportive and collegial the other fellows are.”

GreenSTEM is an entrepreneurial pilot program for recent graduates of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) masters and PhD programs. It provides funding support over two years for entrepreneurially inclined, technically skilled participants who are working on hardware-based technologies with emissions reduction potential. The GreenSTEM fellows are hosted by Alberta’s research universities, including the U of L, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

Roberts and Brandon based their idea off work done by the U of L’s Dr. Dylan Girodat (BSc ’13, PHD ’19, currently working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory) and PhD candidate Dustin Smith (BSc ’13, MSc ’17).

“The detection of specific biomolecules is an important part of many industrial and academic processes,” says Roberts. “However, sensors that detect and differentiate between similar molecules are not readily available for all types of molecules, or require significant time and technical infrastructure for detection.”

Their company proposes to develop custom biosensors for a variety of applications, including the biofuel industry and any number of ag biotech uses. Their biosensors are biodegradable detection systems that provide rapid, sensitive and selective measurements of a desired chemical in solution. They currently have three working prototypes (each detecting a unique biomolecule) and their main focus is on green technologies.

“Our first priority is to do some strong market research, and talk to as many biofuel people as we can to show them what we have and whether it might be helpful to their business,” says Brandon. “Some of the first advice we’ve been offered about building our business, is to ensure we’re satisfying a need with our product.”

Roberts says they are also looking at custom applications, finding people in either energy or research sectors who have a need to detect certain molecules, then partnering with them to build a custom biosensor for that need.

“Either you make it and sell it directly to them or you license what you’ve designed and sell it to a biotech company, and they build it on a large scale,” he says. “We think the value in our company is the technology and the development pipeline and less an actual, physical product.”

GreenSTEM provides annual fellowship stipends (essentially salaries) as well as seed funding to cover technology and business development expenses. Additionally, the program provides technology-focused entrepreneurship programming, technical and business mentorship and networking opportunities with investors, venture capital organizations, service providers and potential industry partners.

“There’s a lot of biotech going on in southern Alberta and it’s growing much faster than most people realize,” adds Brandon. “This rapid increase in biotech and green energy technologies is where GreenSTEM can make such a big impact, and afford us an opportunity to contribute to that sector.”

The intake for the latest round of GreenSTEM has just opened. Expressions of interest are being accepted from Feb. 24 through Mar. 23. For more information, visit alberta.ca/greenstem.

Chinook Symposium winners awarded

trevor.kenney — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 21:32:32 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s 12th annual Chinook Symposium took place recently, showcasing research work from high school, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as special presentations from postdoctoral fellows and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Collegiate iGEM (international Genetic Engineering Machines) team.

The first Chinook Symposium was organized by Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, Dr. Marc Roussel and Susan Hill in 2007 and the event has grown dramatically over the years. This year, 46 posters were presented, compared to 22 posters at the inaugural event in 2007. The event has also grown to involve the community at large, inviting guest judges such as high school teachers, politicians and business leaders. This year, 2018 Alumnus of the Year, Bill Spenceley (BASc ‘’81) served in the role.

The event began in 2007 by awarding eight cash prizes to the top two graduate and undergraduate students each in biochemistry and chemistry. In 2012, a rookie award was added to recognize students presenting at a conference for the first time, and in 2013 a PhD division was added. Cash prizes are now awarded to the top two PhD presenters in biochemistry and in chemistry.

In 2017 and 2018, the Canadian Journal of Chemistry generously sponsored two Canadian Journal of Chemistry Awards for Best Student Presentation, one at the undergraduate level and one at the graduate level. This brings the current count to 14 cash prizes as well as a certificate for top rookie presenter.

Winners of the 12th Chinook Symposium are:

Undergraduate

Chemistry
1. Jaira Ranger (Rookie of the Year)
2. Janelle Bykowski

Biochemistry
1. Hope Vienneau
2. Sydnee Calhoun

Graduate

Chemistry
1. Priya Bhutani
2. Desmond Chisholm

Biochemistry
1. Elijah Dueck
2. Colyn Cleland

PhD

Chemistry
1. Dylan Webb
2. Ryan Kung

Biochemistry
1. Taylor Sheahan
2. Dustin Smith

Canadian Journal of Chemistry Award for Best Student Presentation
Undergraduate - Jaira Ranger
Graduate - Elijah Dueck

Excelling on the world stage

david.kirby — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:14:55 +0000

Learning from the best – that’s exactly what a group of research-focused students is doing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Members of the U of L’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team are part of a phenomenon that began 10 years ago as a course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Today, the annual iGEM contest is the world’s leading undergraduate synthetic biology competition – and each year, U of L students regularly rank among the top iGEM teams worldwide.

An emerging field, synthetic biology sees cells, enzymes and metabolic pathways as more than biological entities; they’re sophisticated parts that can be programmed like machines to perform specific activities. As a result, research in synthetic biology is opening up remarkable possibilities in such sectors as agriculture, pharmaceutical, medical diagnostics, clean energy and resource extraction. In 2011, for example, U of L students developed a petrochemical-eating bacteria that could be used to help clean up water in tailings ponds, a discovery that placed the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s iGEM team among the top 16 competitors in the world, alongside students from Harvard ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, MIT, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Washington and Johns Hopkins ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

This October, the U of L’s iGEM team once again demonstrated its strong innovation abilities. In addition to creating a bioengineering part that works like a zip drive, compressing genetic information, the team developed software that rapidly determines what DNA sequences are compatible to compress together. These inventions, which will allow future bioengineers more flexibility in their research, captured top prize in the 2013 North American iGEM Regional Jamboree held in Toronto. Moreover, the first-place finish secured the team – made up of Dustin Smith (BSc ’13), Graeme Glaister, Jenna Friedt (BSc ’11, MSc ’13), Suneet Kharey, Harland Brandon (BSc ’13) and Zak Stinson – a spot in the international iGEM competition at MIT in November, where the team claimed two prominent awards.

iGEM students are representing the U of L on the world stage. Back row (L-R) Harland Brandon (BSc ’13), Dustin Smith (BSc ’13), Graeme Glaister, Zak Stinson and Dr. H.J. Wieden (faculty advisor). Front row (L-R) Suneet Kharey and Jenna Friedt (BSc ’11, MSc ’13). (Photo by Leslie Ohene-Adjei)

Providing students with the opportunity to compete against teams from around the world is just one way iGEM benefits its participants, says U of L biochemistry professor Dr. Hans-Joachim (H.J.) Wieden. Considered the driving force behind the U of L’s iGEM teams, Wieden serves as the students’ advisor and coach. He is also a highly respected researcher in his own right.

Director of the Alberta RNA (ribonucleic acid) Research and Training Institute at the U of L, Wieden was also recently appointed the Innovates Centre of Research Excellence (iCORE) Chair of Bioengineering. Funded by a $2-million investment from Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, the role enables Wieden’s research team to study how biological systems can be engineered to achieve breakthroughs in materials science, chemistry, biochemistry, health and nanoscience.

“iGEM enables students to get their first taste of research,” says Wieden. “They understand the goal of the project, and learn how to think outside of the box, troubleshoot and apply their knowledge to create scientific discoveries. All of this unlocks students’ creativity.”

What’s more, he continues, iGEM cultivates students’ entrepreneurial potential. The teams manage their own projects and raise funds to support their work, as well as learn how to communicate effectively and connect their work to real-world needs. Finally, as young researchers themselves, they come to realize the importance of supporting the forward-thinking scientists of the future: high school students.

To that end, U of L students have started iGEM teams in high schools in southern Alberta. And those high school students are following in the success of their older counterparts. Earlier this year, in fact, a team of Lethbridge high school students representing schools from across the city, won the Green Brick grand prize at iGEM’s international High School Jamboree at MIT, as well as trophies for Best New Biobrick Natural for their engineered DNA part and Best Wiki, the website used to display their project.

Advised by Wieden as well as U of L undergraduate and graduate students, the high school team – consisting of 22 students from Lethbridge-area high schools, including Kieran McCormack, Chris Isaac, Elaine Bird, Fiona Spitzig, Yoyo Yao, Patrick O’Donnell and Katie Thomas, who represented the team at the jamboree – successfully created a longer lasting form of Oxytocin. A hormone that’s most-commonly used to aid childbirth, Oxytocin degrades quickly and soon becomes unstable, making it expensive and difficult to store.

While such complex projects can be challenging for high school students, the research experience is invaluable, says former iGEM high school team member Erin Kelly.

“Being on the high school team was a steep learning curve, but I learned research methods through hands-on experience and that definitely made the transition to university easier,” says Kelly. Now a second-year biochemistry student at the U of L, she serves as an advisor to the current iGEM high school team along with fourth-year neuroscience student Isaac Ward and master of biochemistry student Mackenzie Coatham (BSc ’12).

U of L iGEM students Isaac Ward, Mackenzie Coatham (BSc ’12), Harland Brandon (BSc ’13) and Erin Kelly are using their research and entrepreneurial skills to launch their own company. (Photo by Leslie Ohene-Adjei)

The trio, all former members of the undergraduate iGEM team, have used their resulting research and entrepreneurial skills to launch the spinoff company Synbiologica Ltd. Along with Brandon (now a U of L master’s student in biochemistry), and U of L neuroscience professor Dr. Gerlinde Metz and Wieden as advisors, the group is in the process of patenting their big idea – a biomedical technology that provides rapid hormone-detection results. Their idea is expected to be 93 per cent more cost-effective than traditional antibody technology, bringing the next generation of hormone detection to the research, agriculture and medical markets.

In recognition of its scientific innovation, the Synbiologica team has earned numerous accolades. They include winning $10,000 in the South Venture Business Plan Competition and taking first place in the Tech Stream side of the Chinook Entrepreneurial Challenge, an annual business-planning competition hosted by Community Futures Lethbridge Region. The group received an additional $10,000 in cash, a one-year lease on space in the tecconnect: An Alberta centre for new commerce – a high-tech business incubator operated by Economic Development Lethbridge – plus a range of other in-kind prizes, including business consulting from MNP and ActionCOACH, and several thousand dollars worth of media services.

“iGEM gave us the motivation and skills to explore multidisciplinary research,” says Ward, chief executive officer of Synbiologica. “And from there, we realized that we don’t have to follow the usual career route. We can create our own jobs.”

U of L's iGEM Team claims two awards at World Jamboree

trevor.kenney — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:40:47 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team captured two prominent awards at the iGEM 2013 World Championship Jamboree, Nov. 1-4 in Cambridge, Mass.

Fresh off claiming the top prize in the North American Jamboree in Toronto last month, the U of L team once again showed it was at the top of the North American class and continues to be one of the world leaders in the study of synthetic biology.

The U of L's iGEM student team consisting of (l to r) Graeme Glaister, Zak Stinson, Suneet Kharey, Jenna Friedt, Dustin Smith and Harland Brandon.

“I am very proud of the results they achieved on the world level,” says team leader Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, Director of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute at the U of L and Innovates Centre of Research excellence Chair of Bioengineering. “The World Jamboree was dominated by the European teams, but we presented very well and the awards we received were well earned.”

The U of L grabbed the Best Poster prize in the Overgrad classification, and also collected the Security Commendation, an overall award that debuted this year.

“I’m especially excited about the security award. It was brand new this year and shows how we are a world leader in this aspect of the research,” says Wieden. “The application of security protocols to the science of synthetic biology is becoming more and more important as we continue to advance the field.”

The U of L team’s project included the development of a bioengineering part that compresses genetic information – essentially working like a zip drive. Every gene needs DNA, but there is only so much DNA that will fit in a cell. This novel part may allow future bioengineers more flexibility in their work. Additionally, the team developed software that quickly determines what DNA is compatible to compress together.

Team member Harland Brandon said the research they conducted around the social implications of their project was lauded at the North American Jamboree and set their project apart from others.

“Our team sought to ensure that our part could not be misused to hide dangerous genes,” says Brandon (BSc’13), a first-year master’s student and Winston Churchill High School graduate. “We hypothesized that our part could be used to hide dangerous sequences, such as Ricin or Ebola, from gene synthesis companies. We then took it a step further and actually consulted with gene synthesis companies, U of L Risk and Safety Services and even a representative from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Not only do we see our project benefitting the field, but we found through our critical analysis that the potential for misuse is not possible.”

Just six Canadian universities qualified for the World Jamboree, with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary the only teams to capture awards.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge team consisted of Dustin Smith (BSc ’13), Graeme Glaister, Jenna Friedt (BSc ’11, MSc’13), Suneet Kharey, Harland Brandon (BSc ’12) and Zak Stinson.

To view full results from the iGEM 2013 World Championship Jamboree, see this website.

Excelling on the world stage

trevor.kenney — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:03:53 +0000

Learning from the best – that’s exactly what a group of research-focused students is doing at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge iGEM students Isaac Ward, Mackenzie Coatham, Harland Brandon and Erin Kelly are among the best young researchers in the world.

This October, the U of L’s iGEM team once again demonstrated its strong innovation abilities. In addition to creating a bioengineering part that works like a zip drive, compressing genetic information, the team developed software that rapidly determines what DNA sequences are compatible to compress together. These inventions, which will allow future bioengineers more flexibility in their research, captured top prize in the 2013 North American iGEM Regional Jamboree held in Toronto. Moreover, the first-place finish secured the team – made up of Dustin Smith (BSc ’13), Graeme Glaister, Jenna Friedt (BSc ’11, MSc’13), Suneet Kharey, Harland Brandon (BSc ’12) and Zak Stinson – a spot in the international iGEM competition, which will be held at MIT in November.

Director of the Alberta RNA (Ribonucleic acid) Research and Training Institute at the U of L, Wieden was also recently appointed the Innovates Centre of Research Excellence (iCORE) Chair of Bioengineering. Funded by a $2-million investment from Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, the role enables Wieden’s research team to study how biological systems can be engineered to achieve breakthroughs in materials science, chemistry, biochemistry, health and nanoscience.

Advised by Wieden as well as U of L undergraduate and graduate students, the high school team – consisting of 22 students from Lethbridge-area high schools, including Keiran McCormack, Chris Isaac, Elaine Bird, Fiona Spitzig, Yoyo Yao, Patrick O'Donnell and Katie Thomas, who represented the team at the jamboree – successfully created a longer lasting form of Oxytocin. A hormone that’s most-commonly used to aid childbirth, Oxytocin degrades quickly and soon becomes unstable, making it expensive and difficult to store.

While such complex projects can be challenging for high school students, the research experience is invaluable, says former iGEM high school team member Erin Kelly.

The trio, all former members of the undergraduate iGEM team, have used their resulting research and entrepreneurial skills to launch the spinoff company Synbiologica Ltd. Along with Brandon (now a
U of L master’s student in biochemistry), and U of L neuroscience professor Dr. Gerlinde Metz and Wieden as advisors, the group is in the process of patenting their big idea – a biomedical technology that provides rapid hormone-detection results. Their idea is expected to be 93 per cent more cost-effective than traditional antibody technology, bringing the next generation of hormone detection to the research, agriculture and medical markets.

iGEM team celebrates North American Regional victory

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 21:10:49 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has further cemented its reputation as a leader in the teaching and research of synthetic biology by capturing first place at the 2013 North American iGEM Regional Jamboree in Toronto, Ont. this past weekend.

The competition, held at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto, featured teams from across Canada and the United States. The U of L team of Dustin Smith, Graeme Glaister, Jenna Friedt, Suneet Kharey, Harland Brandon and Zak Stinson will now move on to the international competition, which will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, Mass. Nov. 1-4.

“This certainly shows that bioengineering research and the aggressive approach we’ve taken to study this field is working at the U of L, and that the RNA Institute is playing a key role in both enabling research and training students,” says Dr. H.J. Wieden, director of the Alberta RNA (Ribonucleic acid) Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) at the U of L, the Innovates Centre of Research Excellence (iCORE) Chair of Bioengineering and faculty advisor for the U of L’s iGEM teams. “The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is poised to continue to be at the forefront of this emerging field.”

The U of L team’s project includes developing a bioengineering part that compresses genetic information – essentially working like a zip drive. Every gene needs DNA, but there is only so much DNA that will fit in a cell. This novel part may allow future bioengineers more flexibility in their work.

Additionally, the U of L team developed software that quickly determines what DNA is compatible to compress together.

“Each year we are also tasked with exploring the social implications of our project. Our team sought to ensure that our part could not be misused to hide dangerous genes,” says team member Harland Brandon (BSc’13), a first-year master’s student and Winston Churchill High School graduate. “We hypothesized that our part could be used to hide dangerous sequences, such as Ricin or Ebola, from gene synthesis companies. We then took it a step further and actually consulted with gene synthesis companies, U of L Risk and Safety Services and even a representative from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Not only do we see our project benefitting the field, but we found through our critical analysis that the potential for misuse is not possible.”

In addition to winning the overall Regional Overgrad award, the U of L also claimed the award for best Wiki (website explaining their project).

iGEM is the premier competition for young scientists interested in the emerging field of synthetic biology, which is quickly leading to new discoveries that will diversify key economic sectors such as pharmaceutical, agriculture, medical diagnostics, clean energy and resource extraction. It also facilitates scientific research and education by establishing and operating the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, a community collection of open source biological components.

The organization promotes the advancement of science and education by developing an international open community of students and practitioners in schools, laboratories, research institutes and industry.

Earlier this year, a team of Lethbridge high school students was awarded the coveted Green Brick grand prize at iGEM’s High School Jamboree.

UNews - Dustin Smith

GreenSTEM funding supports startup dsBioscience Inc. as it builds off iGEM project success

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