Beyond tanks and missiles: Bioinnovation offers opportunities for defence

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that a nation’s resilience in the face of such challenges will rely on internal ingenuity and innovation. As the global geo-political landscape also shifts and provides challenges, the question of national security on many fronts needs to be considered, from biodefence to food and health security—areas in which Canada has the resources to manufacture homegrown solutions. With increased defence spending, Canada has an exciting opportunity to leverage its fast-growing biotech sector to protect its security interests while also driving economic growth and benefits for Canadians.

A comparison with our southern neighbour shows that through the US Department of Defense (DOD) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the US has put significant resources into basic medical sciences and biotechnology. DARPA openly states that they “foster, demonstrate, and transition breakthrough fundamental research, discoveries, and applications.” Meanwhile, Canada’s closest equivalent, Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC), has never funded fundamental medical sciences and biotechnology at the level of the US DOD and DARPA. 

As a case for how we can harness our country’s strengths in biotechnology for security, one rapidly growing field in which Canada has invested and is recognized as a leader is glycomics. Glycomics is the study of how specialized carbohydrates (glycans) interact with cells and proteins to profoundly influence all aspects of biology. The leading edge of this research is being driven by a pan-Canadian research and translation network called GlycoNet, under Canada’s Strategic Science Fund. Because glycans play critical roles in everything from immune system function to drought resistance in agricultural crops, enormous potential also exists to develop glycomics-based technologies that serve defence priorities. 

One area vital for Canada’s health security is pandemic preparedness. Canada’s response to some challenges of the previous pandemic has led to the Canadian hubs for pandemic preparedness, and glycomics research and know-how within this endeavor are enabling the development of new antivirals and vaccines. This research hubs initiative is funded through the Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund which is part of the Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy.

Beyond pandemic preparedness is a host of other glycomics-based activities integral to Canada’s national security. For instance, Canadian startup Avivo is commercializing the production of universal blood using glycomics technology that removes specific glycans to convert existing donated blood into type O—universal donor blood. This technology could be used in disaster situations where a rapid supply of universal donor blood is required. This same technology can be applied to organ transplantation to suppress the immune rejection encountered with mis-matched blood types. It is worth noting that the US Air Force and the Canadian military have funded part of this research development.

Canadian scientists have also developed novel cryopreservation capabilities using glycans to optimize cell and organ preservation. This pioneering work from PanTHERA CryoSolutions significantly improves the quality of cells and tissues available for transplantation and biobanking, and it can even be applied to animal and aquatic species breeding and preservation. 

In response to biothreats, glycomics can be applied to the creation of medical countermeasures. For example, Canadian plant-based biotechnology to produce anti-toxins and other serum glycoproteins can protect military personnel from nerve gas exposure. Very similar plant-based production technology has been proven to produce effective influenza or COVID vaccines without the need for human cells, or the cold chain required for mRNA vaccines. Continued innovation in this area could help with vaccine self-sufficiency to combat several viruses.

Also in the vaccine space, Canada’s National Research Council has a dedicated manufacturing space and collaborations to establish a rapid vaccine antigen screening platform to facilitate conventional cell culture-based vaccines. The NRC and a consortium of partners have also advanced a bacterial glycan-based vaccine (Haemophilus influenzae a) to clinical trials. This vaccine could help protect vulnerable populations in Canada’s North, a region of the country vital to Canada’s security as a nation.

And finally, we should mention food security. We may not think about it much in the context of defence, but with changes in global supply chains, endogenous food production has become more important. Canadian researchers are using glycans to develop effective vaccines to protect Canada’s food animals against pathogens such as Streptococcus suis, a zoonotic pathogen that can jump from pigs to people, making it a bigger threat beyond Canada’s $5B swine industry. Also in support of food security, researchers at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada are looking at how crop resilience is linked to glycans in the cell wall and in plant metabolism. We can use that information to improve crop resilience in the face of climate change. Honeybee health is another area of growing importance as 75% of crops rely on pollinators. Canadian glycomics researchers are working to develop novel therapeutics that protect honeybees against viruses. As part of safeguarding Canada’s food supply and exports, we also need to consider ocean health, and to that end, omics technologies can be used to monitor indicator species like mussels as a way of detecting pollution in our coastal waters. 

Canada has a strong biotechnology position, and with coordination can benefit Canada’s national defence in a variety of important ways, while also yielding socioeconomic benefits, from better healthcare and food security to economic growth and job and company creation. Together, we can build a secure, resilient future for all Canadians.