Nano's team awarded Gates Foundation grant

Dr. Francis Nano (biochemistry and microbiology) and his research team are one of only six Canadian research groups out of more than 100 international teams receiving a coveted Grand Challenges Exploration grant of $100,000 US each from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The awards are meant to fund bold new ideas for tackling the world’s toughest health issues. Nano—by taking genes from cold-loving Arctic bacteria and “inserting” them into disease-causing bacteria—hopes to make the pathogenic bacteria unable to grow at normal body temperature. This in turn could allow the bacteria to be used in immunization without causing disease itself, useful for making vaccines but also in preventative therapy for allergy and asthma.