he study of genomics has the potential to affect all areas of our lives. While genomics is helping to alleviate disease and prolong human life, it is also contributing to the health of the environment. Genomics is discovering organic solutions that industry can utilize to produce more environmentally-friendly products. The result could be more cost effective environmental solutions for industry and a cleaner world for everyone.

Genomics could even help address the demands of global warming.

Micro organisms such as cyanobacteria, which have minimal nutrient requirements, use electrons from water and the energy of sunlight when they convert atmosphereic CO2 into organic compounds. What's more, they do so without producing greenhouse gases. Genomics can tap the accumulated wisdom of hundred of millions of years of evolution.

The opportunities for developing biotechnology solutions to the challenge of climate change will be greatly enhanced when we will understand the molecular biology of plants and micro organisms such as bacteria and algae.

In the more immediate future, genomics can be used to better understand how plants can take more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and retain more of it when they die and decompose. The mix of bacteria in soil can be used to enhance the long-term retention of soil carbon, producing more fertile soil and improving water retention. The ability of the oceans to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and retain it permanently in the deepest water can also be enhanced.

Whether it is accelerating the progress toward predictive, preventative and personalized health care or contributing to our environmental goals, genomics has a central role to play. The opportunities are too great, the potential too vast and the advantages too numerous not to push forward.

That is why at Genome Canada we are striving to become not merely literate, but fluent, in the language of our genes. The future of our health and our planet may depend on it.