Decoding the Genome Canada Research Network : an institutional analysis

Abstract

The rise of high-technological innovations in the mid- to late- 20th and early 21st centuries has required the establishment of equally innovative agencies and institutions to guide these technological innovations. This thesis examines the emergence and evolution of Genome Canada, which was created to oversee the proliferation and direction of genomic research within Canada. This thesis examines how genomic research developed in Canada throughout the late 1980s to early 2000s, why it became necessary to create Genome Canada, how the networked model chosen was seen as the preferred model, and how Genome Canada has evolved to date.

This case study of Genome Canada is important because it reveals how public institutions that guide innovation emerge and how they evolve over time. As well, it is important because it reveals how the model used in the genome policy sector may be used again in the future as a framework for establishing other similar institutions.