The Alberta Research Council is in the business of putting the fruits of its labour into the hands of people who can use it. The recent quest for a reliable, western Canadian DNA fusarium test is a case in point.
“Our scientists already knew there was a need for a better test and they had already taken some initial steps,” said Nancy Romanow-Cranston of the council’s commercialization department. It’s her job to mate research projects with companies who can use the new technology.
“The people at 20/20 (seed labs) also identified this need, so when they came on board with their financial investment, we were able to move ahead very quickly.”
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In the world of science, bringing applied research to market this quickly is a rare occurrence. Council researcher Ralph Lange started working on the project in 2002. By late 2004, the test was functional, tested and in the hands of 20/20 Seed Labs.
“This is a perfect example of how a technology can advance rapidly when industry defines the need and puts their money in place so scientists can respond without that long time delay,” Romanow-Cranston said.
Once the council knew it had a successful fusarium test, she worked out a licence agreement with 20/20, giving the seed lab exclusive rights to the technology.
“When we commercialize a new technology like this, the agreement generates revenue for the ARC and this money goes directly back into the development of more new technology.”
Under the agreement, 20/20 has full rights to the DNA test for an unlimited time. The licence covers Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, plus a dozen Great Plains states that share the fusarium problem.
“If 20/20 wants to grant sublicences to other labs, that’s fine with the ARC, because we gain more revenue which, in turn, goes back into more research,” she said.
“We don’t really have a problem with agreements that have no time limit. New technology comes along so fast that a test like this could become obsolete in only a few years. Nobody knows when something better will come along. In the past, agreements between researchers and industry often stated that it’s for the life of the patent. But not many new technologies in any field today live that long.”
She said that the exact arrangements on any given project will vary, but the typical pattern is that a business will contact the ARC with a need for a specific technical development. It doesn’t have the capacity to do the research itself, but is willing to put up money.
The council has six active, revenue-generating agreements in agriculture, including the DNA test. At any given time, it will have 15 to 20 agricultural projects under way in partnership with private businesses from Canada, Europe and the United States.
“Those are the partners that are private companies,” she said. “If you add in the projects where we have some government funding, the total number of active research projects in agriculture would be much higher.”
Romanow-Cranston said there has been a tendency in Canada to believe research is strictly a public responsibility and investment should be from the public side rather than from industry.
“But look at this DNA test. Private investment really doubles the whole effort, so everybody finds solutions quicker.”
