Do you like Honeycrisp apples, and have you ever wondered what it takes to breed delicious fruits like that? Well in April, UW-Madison was paid a visit by Jim Luby from the University of Minnesota, the apple (and wine grape) breeder who released the Honeycrisp apple. After his seminar, I got a chance to sit down with him and talk about his career in plant breeding – with a camera, of course. I present to you the latest installment of my Fields of Study video series: Apple Breeding with Jim Luby!
While at the 2011 Maize Genetics Conference, the Biofortified Executive Editorial Team (Hey that spells BEET), aka Anastasia and I, talked about many of the awesome things that have made it onto the blog, and things that have not yet done so. One of the craziest things that I learned from a fellow graduate student while harvesting ears of corn in the field last fall were the Oat-Maize Addition Lines. People often frame their
I don’t know about you, but I had a fun week, and a very fun Friday. Besides all the usual things I get myself into, I decided to make a shiny box for our blog mascot, Frank N. Foode, and pull a little prank on everyone. I conceived of the idea months ago, and this week I had to get it all together in time. I announced on the blog that not only was there a Frank N. Foode doll for sale in stores, but that each box came with genetically engineered seeds for kids to grow. This took a little bit of planning, and had some interesting results. I had two main goals, and the first was to have some fun.
Sunday evening, I sat down and combed the internet for images to use to make a box. I envisioned a 5×4 box a foot tall, with a flap on the back. Bit by bit it came together, and looked something like this:
(Click to zoom in on the picture)
Grad student life is busy, and I didn’t get to printing this out until Thursday afternoon. I actually printed it on poster material, which I thought might be too thin to work, but it worked out nicely. Getting it home unwrinkled was a challenge given my two-wheeled mode of transportation, and a little razor-blade work and careful creasing later, I had a box ready to glue together. The plastic window was actually one of those old term paper covers sliced to fit. To make Frank stand up inside, I had to cut some slits and twist-tie his rear husk in place. My spouses Ariela provided some skillful handwriting to label the seed packets, although it did not show up in the video. (see below) I should also credit Valerie Lusk, Anastasia’s sister, for her Frank N. Foode artwork which made it into two places on the box.
Ok, so yesterday I got an exciting package in the mail, and I’m afraid that I can’t keep this thing under wraps for very long, because you are going to hear about it sooner or later through other media channels. A lot of people have taken an interest in our blog mascot, Frank N. Foode, and it got me thinking about what could be done to satisfy that interest, and teach people about genetics and genetic engineering. I talked about it with my friends and family, and decided to try and see if there could be some way to make and sell an educational Frank N. Foode toy. Brainstorming this concept was easy, but getting everyone on board to put this together was hard. I got a hold of a toy manufacturer and a marketing company, which was surprisingly easy in retrospect, but the hardest part was convincing a seed company to go along with it. Because not only did I want to try putting Frank on some store shelves, I also wanted to put seeds in each box. Not just any seeds, in fact. Genetically engineered sweet corn seeds, and a second packet of “Mystery Mutant” seeds. I want to bring plant genetics up close and personal to kids, teenagers, and adults, and I think this could be the way to do it. And for all those who have been aching to get your own Frank doll, this is your chance!
As I mentioned in my previous post, a good contingent of the Biofortified gang is here at the 2011 Maize Genetics Conference in St. Charles, Illinois. This 3-4 day event is the 53rd conference in its long history. After I walked out of the NCCC-167 meeting to pick up my name tag and conference book for MGC, Anastasia had just arrived and we started chatting about many of the things that have been going on with the blog, and in the world. We put up our posters (Anastasia has a research poster and one for MaizeResearch.org, and I brought our latest blog poster) and had dinner. That’s when the first awesome thing happened.
Biofortified's volunteer authors are devoted to providing factual information and fostering discussion about agriculture, especially plant genetics and genetic engineering. The site is written by grad students, professors, and guest experts. Meet our authors on the Authors page.
April Fools comes in a shiny box
I don’t know about you, but I had a fun week, and a very fun Friday. Besides all the usual things I get myself into, I decided to make a shiny box for our blog mascot, Frank N. Foode, and pull a little prank on everyone. I conceived of the idea months ago, and this week I had to get it all together in time. I announced on the blog that not only was there a Frank N. Foode doll for sale in stores, but that each box came with genetically engineered seeds for kids to grow. This took a little bit of planning, and had some interesting results. I had two main goals, and the first was to have some fun.
Sunday evening, I sat down and combed the internet for images to use to make a box. I envisioned a 5×4 box a foot tall, with a flap on the back. Bit by bit it came together, and looked something like this:
(Click to zoom in on the picture)
Grad student life is busy, and I didn’t get to printing this out until Thursday afternoon. I actually printed it on poster material, which I thought might be too thin to work, but it worked out nicely. Getting it home unwrinkled was a challenge given my two-wheeled mode of transportation, and a little razor-blade work and careful creasing later, I had a box ready to glue together. The plastic window was actually one of those old term paper covers sliced to fit. To make Frank stand up inside, I had to cut some slits and twist-tie his rear husk in place. My spouses Ariela provided some skillful handwriting to label the seed packets, although it did not show up in the video. (see below) I should also credit Valerie Lusk, Anastasia’s sister, for her Frank N. Foode artwork which made it into two places on the box.
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