Toxicology is the environmental field concerned with the harmful effects of chemical, physical and biological agents on living organisms, including fish, plants, animals and humans. Hemmera has a strong toxicology team within our Life Sciences group which draws on a variety of scientific disciplines and tools including biology, ecology, and genomics to measure, explain and predict the severity and frequency of adverse effects on living organisms due to environmental toxicant exposure.
Since 2006, Hemmera has been leading the industry in the application of genomics in environmental projects and ecological risk assessments. Recent advances in genomics now make it possible to develop molecular gene expression profiles of individual chemicals to identify the chemical present at relevant exposure levels, its mechanism of toxicity, and its (sublethal) effects on living organisms in the environment.
Current genomic activities include participation in the Environmental Strategy Task Force of Genome BC, research by lead scientists in collaboration with academia and industry, and assessment of the costs and benefits of genomic lines of evidence in risk assessments in comparison to traditionally used risk assessment tools under various environmental scenarios with a number of clients.
Services Hemmera provides in this area include:
