New Funding to Help U of G Researchers Ward Off Threats to Plant Biodiversity
Overview:
New Funding to Help U of G Researchers Ward Off Threats to Plant Biodiversity
A new $1-million gift from the Gosling Foundation will enable the University of Guelph to continue conserving valuable and endangered plant species threatened by climate change, disease and loss of biodiversity in Canada and worldwide.
The new gift follows previous donations totalling $7 million from the foundation to establish and sustain the Gosling Research Institute for Plant Preservation (GRIPP). The institute runs the only research-intensive Canadian facility for cryopreservation of endangered plant biodiversity.
Cryopreservation allows researchers to store plant tissue at ultra-low temperatures – as low as –196 C – in liquid nitrogen for later thawing and use.
“This new funding essentially establishes a permanent basis for our cryo-collection and enables a long-term strategy to make a bank of valuable but endangered Canadian plant species,” said plant agriculture professor Praveen Saxena, director of GRIPP.
“It will strengthen international recognition of GRIPP as a uniquely Canadian conservation facility for the cryopreservation of plants.”