Director's Message
“Genomics pave the path towards exciting opportunities in the emerging bioeconomy."
Dr. Igor Kovalchuk
Genomics and Epigenomics
SAGSC Director
Welcome to SAGSC, the University of Lethbridge’s research institute dedicated to genomics technologies and bioinformatics methods.
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Genomics is the key to reading and understanding the blueprint of life and pave the path towards exciting opportunities in the emerging bioeconomy. The University of Lethbridge is well positioned to make significant advances in basic and translational research through genomics-driven studies that will lead to the development of new therapeutic interventions and improved agriculture strategies.
SAGSC was established in 2019 to meet the surging needs for next-generation sequencing (NGS) and to capitalize on the local expertise at the University of Lethbridge. SAGSC integrates analytical and computational technologies to provide in-house, state-of-the-art NGS capabilities coupled with fully integrated bioinformatics support with the SAGSC Bioinformatics Core.
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Thanks to the SAGSC team and the institutional support, we continue to grow. I am particularly proud of SAGSC adopting new, emerging technologies. As an example, we were the second centre in Canada (the first in Western Canada) to establish a PromethION by Oxford Nanopore Technologies for niche applications such as long-read sequencing and direct RNA sequencing. SAGSC will continue to evolve along with the landscape of genome research, and provide an array of omics technology platforms and bioinformatics solutions to scientists at the University of Lethbridge, affiliated institutions and external academic and commercial organizations.