Ont. funds DNA facility design
Trent University has received $1.3 million to plan its DNA research facility.
By Roger Leblanc
Peterborough Examiner On-Line - Tuesday November 2, 2004

[OurTrent Editor's note: More public money is being given to a project without there being any substantive or detailed public disclosure of the facts to allow independent analysis of the alleged benefits to Trent and the broader Peterborough Community]

Trent president Bonnie Patterson said this was the provincial money needed to design the new facility. It covers all the necessary engineering work, architectural designs and project management for the Peterborough and Trent Headquarters for an Innovative Network in DNA Education and Research.

“It’s preconstruction activity prior to the first building being put in place. This gets us launched,” Patterson said, adding the group has already secured money to build the facility, fill it with equipment and put researchers into labs. “This gets us ready to go and use the other resources we’ve already secured.”

For PhD student Tim Frasier, who’s studying right whales, this puts him one step closer to being able to work in modern, fully equipped laboratory.

“It will allow us to use the right equipment that will allow me to do stuff that I wouldn’t be able to do,” he said. “Right now all the rooms are too small. We have one machine in one room, another machine in another room. We really can’t set up the lab the way we want to.”

In one small lab, all that’s keeping dripping water from a piece of equipment worth $200,000 is a black garbage bag, he said. Buckets are used in other labs, he said, to catch rainwater as it pours in through the leaky roof.

With the construction of the new labs, he explained, researchers will be able to work in a few bright clean labs instead of several small ones.

Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky made the announcement on behalf of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The funding comes from its Rural Economic Development program, which strives to support rural economies and community partnerships.

“Strategic investments like this are giving our province a competitive edge in attracting talent and investment,” Dombrowsky said.

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