The TAIGA team held a workshop at UBC to share their expertise on detection of forest pathogens using DNA methods. The workshop was attended by plant and tree health experts from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Butchart Garden and Sichuan Agricultural University. The participants got a Genomics 101 lecture, learned about the TAIGA project (http://taigaforesthealth.com) and went to the lab to extract DNA from pines infected with white pine blister rust and poplars infected with poplar canker. They performed real-time PCR and learned how to interpret the results. The day ended with a Happy Hour networking event on the 4th floor of the beautiful Forest Sciences Center at UBC. It was serious in the lab but all smiles at the end of the day!!!
