Staff Profile
Jenny Aitken |
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The Rotorua-based lab is a small biotechnology company in the global scheme of plant tissue culture. However, in the last six years it has made major advances in biotechnologies for initiating and shipping new plant germplasm around the world and has substantially increased its global business in this area.
The clonal verification project will address a key question encountered in many horticultural industries "are the plants that I'm producing today the same as what they were a year, or even a hundred years ago?". Or have they changed as a consequence of genetic variation. For example, a grape grower might ask, "is this Pinot noir clone the same was what was originally imported from Burgundy 50 years ago, and is it even the same as what I planted last year?" The same could be asked for apple varieties or for kiwifruit, by growers who want to ensure they know exactly what they are growing and selling.
DNA-based technology has been around for 20 years or more and is being used in NZ by our CRI's, (Crown Research Institutes) and Universities primarily for research purposes. This project will greatly extend the application of DNA technology by providing a service to the horticulture sector.
It is intended that once The Tree Lab is set up to do the molecular analyses for clonal verification, this technology can also be used for training Waiariki's students in molecular biology of plants in Certificates and DiplomasWaiariki's practical coursework for the newly established Short Course Certificate in Plant Biotechnology will be held at The Tree Lab starting in Semester 2 on 19 July 2010.
