91制片厂

Researchers from the听听and the听听at the 91制片厂 recently were honored for their intellectual property contributions to the university in the last year, including new inventions that manipulate the caffeine content in a tea plant and the development of a new way of detecting a pathogenic virus in shellfish.

Several faculty and former faculty members, graduate students, and business partners were recognized by the university at the 2015 Innovators Dinner hosted by 91制片厂Innovation. 91制片厂Innovation advocates for, manages, and promotes 91制片厂鈥檚 intellectual property.听91制片厂Innovation strives to create partnerships between 91制片厂 and the business community and is responsible for licensing 91制片厂 innovations and supporting start-up companies based on 91制片厂's innovations.听

鈥淭he NH Agricultural Experiment Station鈥檚 core mission is to create unbiased knowledge and new technologies of potential value to the state, region, and nation. It鈥檚 gratifying to see our many outstanding college and experiment station scientists working with 91制片厂Innovation toward transitioning these innovations to sectors where they鈥檙e directly available for broader applications. As an institution, 91制片厂 continues to value and validate our land-grant partnerships with the state,鈥� said Jon Wraith, dean of the 91制片厂 College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, and director of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station.

91制片厂鈥檚 cumulative intellectual property revenue exceeded $4.4 million in fiscal year 2015. 91制片厂 grants an average of one intellectual property license a day, which allows business and industry to commercialize and benefit from innovations developed at the university. Today, 91制片厂 is among the top 20 universities in the nation regarding the number of intellectual property licenses granted each year.

鈥漈he annual Innovators Dinner is a wonderful opportunity for 91制片厂 to truly celebrate both its innovators as well as their unique and creative work. The innovations are an extension of 91制片厂鈥檚 excellence in research and become the foundation for goods and services that can benefit larger audiences,鈥� said Maria Emanuel, associate director of 91制片厂Innovation.

Subhash Minocha, professor of plant biology and genetics and a researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, was recognized as a first-time inventor for his project 鈥淒eveloping a Naturally Caffeine-Free Tea Plant Using the Modern Techniques of Genetic Engineering.鈥� The research will produce plants that are naturally decaffeinated vs. those from which caffeine is removed by chemical methods to produce decaffeinated tea.

Minocha and his research team are using a combination of antisense RNA and genome editing technologies to reduce the function of the enzyme controlling caffeine synthesis. Also, using overexpression of this gene, they expect to generate a tea plant that should produce higher concentrations of caffeine in the leaves.

Cheryl Whistler, associate professor of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences and a researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, was recognized as a first-time inventor for her innovation 鈥淭argeted Molecular Detection of Invasive Vibrio Parahaemolyticus.鈥� Whistler discovered a new method to detect a bacterium that has contaminated New England oyster beds and sickened consumers who ate the contaminated shellfish. The new patent-pending detection method 鈥� which is available for immediate use to identify contaminated shellfish 鈥� is a significant advance in efforts to identify shellfish harboring disease-carrying strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Chuck Walker, professor of molecular, cellular and biomedical science, was recognized as a first-time inventor for his innovation 鈥淚solation and Characterization of the Steamer Retrotransposon in Leukemic Clam Hemocytes.鈥� The Atlantic soft-shell clam inhabits a range extending from Canada to Maryland. Haemic Neoplasia (HN) is a recognizable leukemic-like disease in mollusks and can cause epidemics in populations such as the Atlantic soft-shell clam. Working with a team of researchers led by Stephen Goff of Columbia University, Walker helped identify 鈥淪teamer,鈥� a novel mollusk retroelement that is elevated in HN-diseased clam populations. The finding can be used in laboratory tests for aquatic health, including the diagnosis of leukemic animals, as well as improve our understanding of the cause and potential treatments of human leukemia. A pending patent application for the research has been licensed to a New England company for commercialization opportunities.

Peter Erickson, professor of biological sciences, extension dairy specialist and a researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, and graduate students Kayla Aragona, were recognized as first-time inventors for their innovation 鈥淣iacin Supplementation to Prepartum Dairy Cows: Effects Postpartum.鈥� Niacin supplementation has been studied in cattle but with no regard to how its potential mechanism of increasing blood flow may affect colostrum quality. Colostrum is essential in the neonatal calf diet as it provides necessary antibodies for survival.听Researchers found that supplementing niacin during colostrogenesis (four weeks prepartum) resulted in an increase in Immunoglobulin G, which is a听type听of听antibody, compared to cows not receiving niacin.

J. Brent Loy, emeritus professor of plant genetics and a researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, was recognized for three licenses for his pumpkin hybrid and squash inbred seeds. The seeds were licensed to Seedway, LLC, and Hybrid Seed Co. In 2011, Loy was awarded the university鈥檚 inaugural Innovator of the Year Award for his research program and impact on 91制片厂鈥檚 commercialization efforts. A plant breeder whose experiment station-funded work has resulted in more than 50 new varieties of tomato, squash, pumpkins, gourds, and melons sold in seed catalogs throughout the world, Loy is responsible for 35 percent of the university鈥檚 cumulative royalties earned since 1999. The Innovator of the Year Award has been named after Loy since its creation.

Jennifer Durant, former assistant research professor of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences, was recognized for her innovation听鈥淰inyl Acid Monomer Recovery.鈥� Durant invented a method to directly purify and extract sodium itaconate, a bio-based molecule, from the fermentation media used to produce itaconic acid from carbohydrates. This method provides significant economies in the vertical integration path from plant-based carbohydrates to consumer products such as bio-based detergents and bio-based paints. This new, patented technology is听licensed to Itaconix Corporation of Stratham, a start-up company from 91制片厂 to develop highly functional polymers from itaconic acid.

Many of the innovations described above are available for commercialization; interested parties should contact Maria Emanuel at听maria.emanuel@unh.edu.

Founded in 1887, the听听at the听听is 91制片厂鈥檚 original research center and an elemental component of New Hampshire's land-grant university heritage and mission. We steward federal and state funding, including support from the听, to provide unbiased and objective research concerning diverse aspects of sustainable agriculture and foods, aquaculture, forest management, and related wildlife, natural resources and rural community topics. We maintain the听听and听听agronomy and horticultural farms, the听, the听, and the听. Additional properties also provide forage, forests and woodlands in direct support to research, teaching, and outreach.