Fred Gilbert, the President of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay Ontario is questioning public investment in Trent's DNA cluster project. According to an Examiner article, Gilbert says Lakehead's DNA lab is one of the top three mitochondrial labs in the world. In spite of having a better existing infrastructure to support a DNA cluster in Thunder Bay government money was sent to Trent where the only resource in place was the MNR. Is there something fishy with the dispensation of grant monies going on here?

---

Gilbert pans DNA project
Duplicates work in Thunder Bay, says president of Lakehead U.
By Vivian Song
Peterborough Examiner – February 21, 2005 page B1

The president of Lakehead University has joined the cluster of city councillors, environmentalists and taxpayers who’ve expressed disappointment with the direction of Trent’s DNA lab project.

Fred Gilbert is still smarting from the government’s decision to fund Trent’s DNA cluster proposal over his university’s Paleo-DNA lab.

The accredited lab in Thunder Bay focuses on extracting mitochondrial (small energy-producing organelles or organs found in cells) from ancient samples like bones.

“We probably had better existing infrastructure to build on for the cluster in Thunder Bay, when the only thing in place in Peterborough was the Ministry of Natural Resources,” Gilbert said.

He also said the facility in Peterborough would only duplicate work that could be done in their labs – a claim Trent project leader Denis Ferkany countered.

“Our leadership focuses on wildlife management in DNA profiling,” he said. “Our leadership history is not the same as archeological labs which have a specialization of their own.”

Trent’s project has drawn fire in recent weeks for not being transparent and has also been criticized for being a waste of money.

Calls from two city councillors to open the business plan to the public were shot down by Trent representatives this week – a move that may irk the city’s taxpayers who are investing $2 million into the initiative.

Environmentalists also protested the project last week, saying the government was throwing money at a project that focuses on a low-priority disease, with rabies research.

So far, the Trent project has received $10.7 million in funding from the city, the federal and provincial innovation funds, and $1.3 million from the rural Ontario initiative.

Gilbert said northern communities like Thunder Bay have long been shortchanged by the government, even when they’ve provided proven track