CAST summary of activities January – May 2023
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the SIVB Representative to the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, or CAST.
I’m pleased to pass along highlights of CAST’s latest accomplishments through the CAST January-May 2023 Summary of Activities. Recently the 2023 Borlaug CAST Communication Award (BCCA) Announcement was made, an overview of their 2023 Spring Board Meeting; a link to their 2022 Annual Report.
As you know, I participate in the Food Work Group work group that meets monthly via Zoom to discuss current projects under development with the objective to identify and frame topics for future CAST publications. The attached listing of forthcoming CAST publications currently being developed will give you an idea of the breadth and depth of upcoming publications.
Additionally, for SIVB you should know that the CAST team welcomes and encourages feedback and suggestions on issues we should be pursuing. Feel free to share with any ideas our plant and animal groups have that may be relevant for a CAST publication. Our work with stem cells, both plant and animal, has been founding research that has broad application to agriculture. I would be pleased to bring them to the group for discussion at an upcoming work group meeting. Also know that the CAST EVP/CEO, Kent Schescke, is always available for a Zoom meeting to discuss ways to deepen our partnership and engagement with CAST.
To that end, you may also have heard that Kent is retiring the end of August this year, and Dr. Chris Boomsma is starting on August 1 in that role. Kent and Chris will be offering opportunities for organizational members to meet with them both via Zoom sometime during the month of August, or after August with just Chris. Please let me know if we should let them know that we’re interested in scheduling that, and when.
Thank you again for the opportunity to support CAST’s unique and effective way of communicating sound, unbiased information on food and science to other professionals in science and other disciplines.
Dwight Tomes, SIVB Representative to CAST
For Sale: Plant Tissue Culture Lab $1Million
Calvin and Martha Anderson, owners of Better Blooming Orchids Tissue Lab, are retiring after over 40 years in the nursery and tissue culture business.
Their lab and greenhouses are in Kissimmee, FL, just south of Orlando International Airport. If there is a potential buyer who is interested in picking up this business when Cal and Martha finish, you may contact them at [email protected] or call directly 407-348-0304. If by chance there is no potential buyer for the lab, all the equipment will eventually be for sale.
For more about them and the lab, please visit www.betterbloomingorchids.com
It’s fully equipped with the necessary lab equipment and supplies that make it a turnkey facility.
Features include a gas autoclave that holds 900 tall baby food jars and a Market Forge autoclave for small projects.
There are thousands of jars, test tubes, flasks, and magenta vessels that will reduce the need for additional purchases. Since this lab is still in operation and is phasing out rather than shutting doors, there are chemicals and hormones already available with plenty of shelf life left.
There are 2 growing rooms with their own AC. The two growing rooms will hold a single layer of baby food jars totaling 44,781. There is an additional room that is used for storage but is also designed for use as another growing room. There are 4 separate Air conditioners with ultra-pure filtration systems.
There are other areas designed for media prep, a transfer room with laminar flow hoods, and two separate washing areas, one for cleaning plants and the other for cleaning glassware.
There are 2 restrooms with a shower located in one of them and a hallway wide enough to house stainless steel racks that hold the prepared trays of media.
For additional storage, there is a 1500 Sq. Ft. room attached to the building but is not connected to the heating and cooling system.
Besides the greenhouses outside, there is a 3000 Sq. ft. 3-bay garage, a 900 Sq. ft. pavilion with a galvalume roof that is connected to the greenhouse right next to the lab, a small two-story building designed for mixing soil for outside plants, and a 3600 Sq. ft. hoop house.
Finally, there are two offices and one entrance room for greeting customers.
Sara Lee presenting her research at the 2023 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair where she was a finalist and recipient of the Regeneron Biomedical Science Award.
Sara Lee, a student at Timpview High School (Provo, UT) received the Grand Champion Award and the SIVB Outstanding Achievement for Ability and Creativity in In Vitro Biology Award for her presentation titled “Effects of Rhodopsin Copy Number Variation from Retinitis Pigmentosa Using Retinal Organoids” at the Central Utah State STEM Fair in March of 2023. Sara has also received the 2023 Regeneron Biomedical Science Award for her presentation at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, and the 2023 Most Outstanding Exhibit in STEM Award from the Yale Science & Engineering Association.
Mae Ciancio, Ph.D.
Dr. Mae Ciancio was promoted to Professor in the Biomedical Sciences Program in the College of Graduate Studies at Midwestern University. Congratulations, Dr. Ciancio!
