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Innovation
The Golden Horseshoe
Biosciences Network
Blog (www.ghbn-blog.
blogspot.com) is the
first Regional Innovation
Network Blog to start
up in Ontario. The blog
features posts by a
diverse group of authors,
and they focus on areas
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biosciences, and other
related fields.
We have already gotten a
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submitting their posts, and
together with this we have
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public, become a GHBN
Blog Author by sending us
a few articles or ideas to
ghblog@ghbn.org.
Inside –
n A nose for
environmental
excellence
[page 2]
n Seeding the
community
farm
[page 4]
n Two careers
in search of
a cure
[page 5]
Bio-Matrix
n W inter 2008-09 n volume 2 n issue 4
The ‘greening’ of Niagara’s wineries
Ontario wineries are drinking in savings in their energy
usage by embracing responsible environmental policies.
Their eco-ethiquette means that thinking green is
reaping long green. And even the animals in some
vineyards are getting into the act.
Wineries increasingly see eco-stewardship makes
natural sense and also dollars and cents. Narelle
Martin, a consultant to the Wine Council of Ontario’s
environmental plan, says it “was made clear
throughout development of the program since 2003
that good environmental practice is good business”.
“It is now a driving political issue, even within
toughening economic conditions recently,” says
winemaker Ron Giesbrecht, of Henry of Pelham
winery. Energy champions, such as Tawse, Stratus,
and Flat Rock wineries, are among the key drivers
along Niagara’s green roads.
Wineries are doing energy audits, investing in new
strategies and equipment, and developing “an open
culture of energy conservation,” says Giesbrecht. His
own company is insulating lines and tanks, putting
in new boilers and compressors, and doing below-
ground construction to reduce cooling and heating
costs for wine storage and aging.
The movement even has movers and shakers from
the animal kingdom. At Southbrook and Featherstone
wineries, sheep strip off low-hanging vine leaves to
increase sun exposure for grapes. Of course, they leave
behind their own fertilizer. At Rosewood, bees feed on
wildflowers, clover and orchards and produce honey
used in the making of mead at the Beamsville estate.
Like other industries, wine producers began getting
hit with rising electricity, natural gas and other power
costs early this decade. OCETA – the Ontario Centre for
Environmental Technology Advancement – developed an
energy benchmarking and best practices project in concert
with the wine council.
Golden Horseshoe
Biosciences Network
That led in 2006 to the report, Sustainable Winemaking
Ontario: Energy Best Practice for Wineries. The study found
that smaller wineries were less energy-efficient than
medium and larger facilities. It also found that, as a general
rule, processing of the grape crop consumed the most energy,
followed by space heating and cooling within buildings.
Energy is integral to winemaking. Controlling temperatures
during fermentation is a big energy user and varies from
facility to facility. Refrigeration in making and storing premium
wine may occupy 50 per cent of all energy consumed.
The 2006 best practice study was followed in 2007 by an
environmental charter, touching on wastewater effluent and
treatment and renewable energy systems, among other things.
The charter also offered pointers on the LEED program – for
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – that
focuses on reducing environmental impact. The Stratus winery
in Niagara-on-the-Lake was way out-front here: it became, in
2005, the world’s first winery to gain LEED green certification.
Stratus uses deep geothermal wells to transfer heat to and
from the ground and relies on a gravity system for grape
sorting and crushing (eliminating or minimizing the need
for pumps). Stratus believes LEED-certification details have
reduced energy needs by an estimated 40 per cent.
Tawse also uses gravitational flow and has a geothermal
system at its Vineland facility. At Flat Rock, they’ve gone
green – literally. Insulating grass sod on the roof that
overhangs wine barrels and fermentation tanks (see related
story on page 2) helps reduce heating and cooling costs.
Henry of Pelham and Southbrook Vineyards are among
operations that have developed natural filter channels to
handle runoff water. Such management plans make use of a
bio-swale, a vegetated open channel designed to attenuate
and treat stormwater drainage, and a wetland to provide
tertiary treatment of wastewater.
 www.ghbn.or g
Bottling an
economic
harvest
The wines are
impressive but the
Ontario winery and
grape-growing sector’s
impact is just as
substantial. That’s the
conclusion of a KPMG
study, released last fall,
that shows the value-
added impact of the
industry to the province’s
economy is about $530
million.
The study found the
wine industry supported
about 7,000 jobs during
2007. KPMG also
concluded that, for each
litre of Ontario wine
purchased by residents,
the value-added return
to the provincial
economy is $8.48
– combined income
for labour, business
and government
– versus 67 cents a
litre of foreign wines
consumed in 2007.

A nose for environmental excellence
It commands the high
ground, poised like a
space-age factory
on steel stilts atop
the escarpment.
This distinctive
look almost masks
the eco-innovation
that is a hallmark
of Flat Rock Cellars. A
visitor sees the six-sided
buildings and connecting bridge, not so much the
pond out back or the grass sod that sits on one
roof of part of the winery.
But the pond and sod are among key design
features that have shaped the Jordan-area facility.
Beneath the pond water are some of the almost
5,000 metres of glycol-filled pipe that act as a
geo-thermal heat and cold transfer system. Below
the six or so inches of sod is the contained space
devoted to wine barrels and fermentation tanks.
The grass not only blends into the surrounding
landscape, it acts to insulate the tank room, to
limit energy loss, and to trap carbon dioxide,
identified as one of the greenhouse gases behind
dramatic climate change. It also helps stop water
runoff that would otherwise send rainwater
cascading onto soils below.
“The fact that the green roof is there is really (so
we are) not intrusive on the landscape,” says Flat
Rock president Ed Madronich. “We’ve tried to have
as small a footprint from the winery as possible.”
That means using anti-microbial ozone technology to
clean barrels and tanks and to rinse bottles, resulting in
the use of no chemicals, such as chlorine or ammonium
compounds, and producing only water runoff.
The environmental stress even comes into play with the
takeaways, the bags that visitors carry their newly bought
wines in. Flat Rock used to offer cardboard boxes, says
Madronich. Now reusable fibre bags are supplied as well
as biodegradeable plastic bags.
The design insights that went into Flat Rock had
their beginnings in the early 2000s. That was just as
the Canada Green Building Council began drafting
its audit standards for energy and environmentally
sustainable buildings. So, the facility doesn’t have a
LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
– certification. (It was only in 2005 that nearby Stratus
became the world’s first LEED winery.)
Madronich says Flat Rock’s environmental and energy
themes are not a matter of money – he says he does not
have an estimate of energy cost-savings earned, thanks
to eco-sustainable innovations – but are more “a moral
and ethical thing, first and foremost.” After all, the winery,
he notes, exists within the escarpment, a World Biosphere
Reserve.
Flat Rock does its grape processing via a gravity-fed
operation: the fruit enters the winery at the top and
moves down through various stages, minimizing the need
for pumping and handling equipment and causing less
damage to grapes.
The cellars turn out their 120,000 litres annually – key
varietals are Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir – from
80 acres of vineyards. The Wine Spectator lauded Flat
Rock’s 2006 Nadja’s vineyard Riesling in its May 15, 2008
issue, part of a tour by the consumer’s wine bible of the
Niagara region. n
 www.ghbn.or g

Niagara sees promise in bio-economy

The potential is clearly there, now it’s time to assess the The region’s wineries are all about fermentation.
promise. Niagara economic leaders are about to proceed Both Niagara College and Brock University are
with an investment-marketing strategy as they continue working with plants and biomass. Brock plans a
to plan for a bio-industry cluster within the region. $90-million health and biosciences complex. Two
Port Colborne firms, Jungbunzlauer and CASCO
Mac grad
The marketing strategy, which will be done in 2009, is Inc., collaborate in making bio-processed products. gets top
the next step in going from the existing Niagara embryo Biolyse Pharma in St. Catharines makes paclitaxel, recognition
of bio-oriented companies and public institutions to a a cancer drug, from the yew tree.
full-scale, critical-mass economic cluster that will create McMaster PhD
new jobs and attract outside businesses and researchers. In all, the Vista report identifies 22 Niagara chemistry/biochemistry
organizations active in the bioeconomy, 18 of grad Weian Zhao
The investment study follows a consultant’s report, which are in the private sector. Overall, more has won honourable
Bioeconomy Industry Development Opportunities for than 80 per cent of organizations, mostly private mention at a national
Niagara, that surveyed the current state and potential of companies, were doing R & D. That knowledge sciences competition for
the region’s bio-infrastructure in the public and private base itself could be a draw in persuading outside
a report on how a gold
sectors. companies to locate in Niagara.
nanoparticle-detection
Big dollar figures come with a successful bio-cluster. But the rush to develop local bio-economic system might protect
For example, the worldwide market for bioproducts communities is headlong across Canada and against and capture
alone is estimated to reach $150 billion US by 2050, the around the globe. Many areas of Southern harmful pathogens such
consultant’s report notes. In Canada, as much as 10 per Ontario are heavily involved in R & D, bio- as the SARS virus.
cent of organic chemicals and plastics could be derived product development, functional foods,
from biomass by 2010. nutraceuticals, and energy-from-waste projects. Zhao’s report,
Biodetection kits using
“The report was helpful in terms of identifying more “One of the things I think Niagara has to do is gold nanoparticle-coated
of the research and development in the broader to try to identify the very unique opportunities paper, extolled the cost,
community,” said Alan Teichroeb, vice-president of that exist . . . (but) we are somewhat behind flexibility and sensitivity
business development and services with Niagara the curve in terms of some of the regions in the virtues of using gold
Economic Development Corporation. country and in the world,” said Lemay. nanoparticle-coated paper
compared to current
The survey report, done by Vista Science and Technology, Funding for Niagara’s bio-economy cluster study
detection systems.
of Welland, found extensive bio-research and is coming from several partners, including the
development ongoing in both private and public sectors Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network, and The technology is part
but that collaboration is limited. The report urges from the federal Community Investment Support
of the Sentinel Bioactive
networking and mobilizing of R & D resources, which Program. n
Paper Network, a
could include sharing of best practices, as the wine
Canadian public-private
industry has done in Ontario.
consortium led by
“I think awareness-building is going to be very critical McMaster University.
here,” said Vista president Amy Lemay. “because I don’t The network hopes
think anybody, including myself, expected to find this R to develop paper-
& D aspect as strong as it is.” based systems,
such as a face
The report, which is still being refined, concluded that mask, to protect
the nascent bio-community needs a stronger investment against, detect
and venture capital base and far more alignment
and deactivate
between the various players. But it notes that there
pathogens.
are great strengths in the amount of biomass in the
region, and its expertise in fermentation, plant genetics,
biomanufacturing, biofuels, and bio-energy.

 www.ghbn.or g
Each week, six families in Dawn Ward’s west-end
Hamilton neighbourhood go to a depot to pick up much
From
grapes to
greenhouses
Isabelle Lesschaeve, an
expert in development
and marketing of Ontario
wines, has moved from
the vineyards to the
farms and greenhouses
of horticultural science
and innovation.
Dr.Lesschaeve is now
Research Chair, Sensory
and Consumer Sciences,
at Vineland Research
and Innovation Centre.
She will be working with
consumer researchers,
plant breeders,
production researchers
and stored products
specialists as they
focus on research in
horticulture breeding,
production and yield
security.
Dr. Lesschaeve was
formerly head of the
Cool Climate Oenology
and Viticulture
Institute at Brock
University. While
at Brock, she was
deeply engaged in
the sensory and
marketing aspects
of wine production
and sales.

Seeding the community farm
of their food. They take home organic fruit and veggies
grown at a West Flamborough farm or on other farms
not that far away.
Depending on what type of share-plan they participate
in, the families may also buy during winter, getting
root vegetables or fruit that comes either from
greenhouses or from cold storage. Sometimes, winter
pickings include food from organic farms in
Mexico or other places.
The families are all participants
in a community operation called
Plan B Organic Farm. They put
down money – it could be one
big cheque or several post-
dated ones – to buy food shares.
A family-sized share might get
them several food items weekly. The
subscription shares translate into up-
front capital for seeds, soil amendments, and
other supplies needed for the growing season.
“We love the share because everything we get
from it we just throw in the blender and feed to
the babies,” says Ward, the mother of two young
boys. “I’m all for supporting the small, local organic
rather than the big corporate thing.”
Plan B’s membership-share plan is not really a co-
op system where local farmers and investors pool
money to form a larger venture. But its operators do
work co-operatively with other organic farmers to fill
food boxes. And Plan B is typical of non-traditional
financing that keeps the family farm alive during a
time of globalization, free trade and deregulation.
Sometimes, the entry or exit of a big corporate
thing creates an opportunity. When Italian dairy
giant Parmalat closed its operation in Millbank, north
of Stratford, in 1999, local farmers literally grabbed a
challenge by the horns. They formed a new co-op, today
the largest goats’ milk co-op in Ontario.
The Mornington Heritage Cheese and Dairy Co-operative
is often heralded as among Canada’s new-generation
co-ops. But it wasn’t easy. The venture was under-
capitalized for a long time. “We’re always just under a
positive cashflow,” key founder Bob Reid told The Rural
Voice publication back in 2006.
Farmers frequently cannot go it alone. But
within a co-op or community structure,
they have a chance. At Plan B, they’re
“looking at establishing a large
farmer’s co-op among the growers
we’ve been working with for years,”
part-owner Alvaro Venturelli said in an
email message. And that might lead to
a certified organic kitchen down the line,
he wrote.
The movement to local produce, or locavore – of course,
not all locally grown foods bear an organic-certified label
– is one spur to farm survival. Locavore plays on themes
of global warming, energy emissions, and a sustainable
environment.
The farmers market at your local mall pushes locavore. So
do the province’s wineries, whose buy-Ontario campaign
tells buyers that their purchases of VQA wine means
cheaper transportation and energy costs relative to those
borne by wine imports.
The locavore movement has a strong online presence.
There are several websites, including the Local Food Plus
site http://www.localfoodplus.ca/ and a Hamilton-based
blog http://www.hamiltoneatlocal.blogspot.com/. Foodie
Sarah Elton of CBC Radio’s Here and Now program is
writing a book on the subject. n
 www.ghbn.or g

P R O F I L E S I N
Sheila Singh
E X C E L L E N C E Salim Yusuf

Bay Area
Two careers in search of a cure Logistics
An overhead bridge links the two worlds of Sheila combusts a fire in Dr. Singh. “A two-year-old with
goes global
Singh’s career. a brain tumour is the most unfair anomaly you
Bay Area Research
could ever see. ... I rage against it. It is something
At one end of the passageway is the stem cell that makes me angry.” Logistics has gone
laboratory space she shares with other principal cancer global in its first year
investigators at McMaster University. At the other is the Cancer stem cells (CSCs) – the phrase remains of operation. The drug-
university medical centre where she works as a pediatric somewhat controversial, with critics saying the packaging operation, a
neurosurgeon. idea amounts to only a hypothesis – are seen
spinoff from Bay Area
as the self-renewing equivalents of normal
The bridge is a metaphor, she says, between her clinician adult stem cells. Like normal adult stem cells, Health Trust, is shipping
and scientist roles. Her bedside watch allows her to follow CSCs can divide indefinitely, giving rise to both product for at least three
a child’s progress. The lab environment gives her time to more cancer cells and progeny that ultimately clinical trials.
reflect and storm ideas with other investigators. differentiate into the different cell types in a
tumour. The company – licensed
But there is also a bridge to the past, back to the memory
by Health Canada and
of a five-year-old boy who succumbed to a brain tumour The CSC model has several implications, one
almost a decade ago. of which is that successful treatment requires with Good Manufacturing
complete elimination of the CSC population. Practices certification
He and another five-year-old boy, both named Excising a tumour surgically might not stop – packages and distributes
Christopher, were treated for brain cancer at Sick new cancer cells arising later. It is as if, says pharmaceuticals from its
Children’s Hospital in Toronto. Both received surgery, Dr. Singh, the CSCs “hide out for a while.”
plant on Wellington Street
chemo, and other treatment. One lived, the other did not.
So, she and other investigators in McMaster’s in Hamilton. One of its
“At that point, in my head, it crystallized,” says the stem cell and cancer research institute seek lines is part of a worldwide
mother of two boys. “Why did they have the same to identify CSC-specific surface markers that heart-risks study run by
disease? Why did one survive and the other one die? . might be targeted for antibody therapy. They
Dr. Salim Yusuf, head of
. . That child (the boy who died) is the one who always look for molecular signaling pathways that can
stayed with me and what really drives my work today. be pharmacologically targeted and evaluate the Population Health
To me, it’s not important unless it’s clinically relevant, not agents that promote the differentiation of CSCs Research Institute,
unless there’s something you can do to help someone.” into progenitors that do not self-renew. out of Hamilton Health
Sciences / McMaster
Her residency at Sick Kids led to leading-edge research For example, there is evidence to suggest that
with Dr. Peter Dirks and other colleagues. In 2003, they the glycoprotein, CD133, is a marker for a subset University.
discovered an abnormal stem cell — the brain tumour of leukemia and glioblastoma cancer stem cells. If
initiating cell (BTIC) — that may drive formation of brain scientists can identify these cells at a pre-cancerous Bay Area also looks
tumours. It was the first isolation from a solid tumour of stage, they may be able to avoid maligancy after the pharma and
what is believed to be a cancer stem cell from the central altogether. placebo blinding-
nervous system. controls for the
“All we’re saying is that the most primitive cells are
various ongoing
Brain tumours are the most common solid tumour in probably the most powerful cells, the ones that are
childhood and come with a high mortality rate. The probably going to cause the cancer,” said Dr. Singh. n clinical trials.
mystery of why children develop brain cancers still



Stephen Collins
McMaster
gets $15M
digestive gift
McMaster University,
a leader in gastro-
enterology research,
has taken another step
towards global excellence
with creation of a new
digestive health research
institute. A $15-million gift
from the Farncombe family
of Oakville will allow for fur-
ther focus on inflammatory
bowel diseases, including
the microbial environment
in the human gut.
McMaster, already with
top-flight researchers
such as bacteria specialist
Stephen Collins, recruited
pharmacologist John
Wallace, a founder of
two pharmaceutical
companies, as the
institute’s first director.
In addition to capital
facilities, the Farncombe
gift will allow for
creation of a digestive
health research chair
and three chairs,
endowed with
$2 million each,
to attract high
potential junior
researchers.

www.ghbn.or g
Bitnet Breakfast Agri-food innovation forum
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.  Date: February 10-12, 2009
Location: Burlington Art Centre Location: Hyatt Regency 370 King St. West
City: Burlington City: Toronto
For more information: visit www.bitnet.ca For more information:
Events listing
visit www.agrifoodforum.com
Innovation Café Series
Art + Science = Culture Health research in the city
Gene-Environment Interactions
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2008
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.  Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 
Location: The Art Gallery of Hamilton Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
City: Hamilton Location: Hamilton Convention Centre
For more information: visit www.ghbn.org City: Hamilton
Future dates: Feb. 25, 2009, April 15, 2009 For more information: visit www.ghbn.org
Innovation Night Golden Horseshoe venture forum
Share your Passion Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2008 Time: 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Location: Royal Botanical Gardens
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
City: Burlington
Location: Emma’s Back Porch
City: Burlington For more information: visit www.ghvf.ca
For more information:
2009 TBI Gala: A Celebration of Success
visit www.innovationnight.ca
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 
Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Location: The Four Seasons Hotel
City: Toronto
For more information: visit
http://ontbi.org/TBI_awards_Gala_2009
n Health research in the city feature: Gene-Environment Interactions
Nature and nurture on tap
Feature event
The aged-old questions of nature and nurture – or more properly, genetic and physical environments
and their effects on each other – will be up for discussion at the next Health Research in the City forum
in Hamilton in February.
The theme of the Feb. 11 third annual conference, geared to research investigators, students,
administrators and industry/public partners, is Gene-Environment Interactions.
Principals behind the all-day seminar include Dr. Sonia Anand, research chair in Population Health Research
at McMaster University; Dr. Petra Arck, research chair in neuroimmunology at St. Joseph’s Healthcare brain
and body institute; and Dr. Salim Yusuf, director of the Population Health Research Institute. n
Contact Golden Horseshoe Biosciences Network
McMaster University, Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery
5105-1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA L8N 3Z5
n Ana Paredes Office Administrator/Incubator Assistant – Tel: 905-525-9140 Ext. 26602 Fax: 905-528-3999
n Darlene Homonko Executive Director – Tel: 905-525-9140 Ext. 26609 Web: www.ghbn.org
GHBN News is a quarterly newsletter published by GHBN. Director and editor: Darlene Homonko
Writer: Mike Pettapiece Graphic Design: Nadia DiTraglia