CANARIE (Canada)

Five to six years ago, researchers were able to sequence hundreds of immune-system molecules (like antibodies) in the human body. Today they can sequence tens of millions.

A full set of one person’s DNA data requires a stack of 50 DVDs while a large study with 1,000 patients can be hundreds of terabytes of data. This makes it impractical to transfer genomic data using traditional methods, challenging to store it, and virtually impossible to use it without advanced research and education networks like CANARIE, sophisticated software tools, and high performance computing facilities.

A groundbreaking human-brain atlas, the extraordinary result of a Canadian-German collaboration, is considered so revolutionary that it was recognized by the MIT Technology Review as one of the world’s breakthrough technologies of 2014.

Ocean Networks Canada (an initiative of the University of Victoria) is developing a software system to co-ordinate readings from underwater sensors in order to detect and report natural hazards, such as earthquakes and tsunamis. This system has the potential to help save lives and limit the impacts of natural disasters.