ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr. Renaud Vincent at Health Canada has proposed this research project and has provided me with patient direction through the maze.

Special thanks to Gala Johnson, for her valuable collaboration in the cytotoxicity assays of the different particulate fractions and in the transgenic cell line experiments.

Thanks to Dr. Niels Bols at the University of Waterloo, for his encouragement and guidance, and for introducing me to Middle Eastern cuisine.

And thanks to Stephen Bjarnason at Health Canada, for providing me with all of the proper forms and giving me good advice over our morning coffee.