Laboratory Equipment: What are some of the newest instrumentations and tools that will help propel sustainable crop production and agriculture in the future? Peiyu Zeng and Lynda McMaster-Schuyler: It is more about how we are using the tools, and for what purposes, than it is the newness of the tools. I would suspect many labs our size are using PCR thermocyclers, fluorescent cell imagers and spectrophotometers. We are too. But how we use those tools in our work is progressing. We would love to have a fluorescent cell imager, which would instantly become our gateway into looking at gene expression. As we move from crop to crop in our research it is one tool on which we would rely to determine the success of genetic transformation in our cultures of switchgrass, hemp and hops.
LE: What trends do you expect to see in the crop science research industry in the coming months and years?
to withstand more devastating droughts.
LE: What kind of monitoring equipment is used in crop/agriculture research?
PZ and LM-S: Tools that enable GPS monitoring of soil conditions are big ones we hear about, because for so long handheld instruments have been the norm. Not anymore. People who work with genetics in the lab rather than with seedlings in the field may take for granted how valuable it is for agricultural researchers to develop understanding of micronutrients in the soil. Precision agriculture techniques and advanced monitoring have necessitated tools with functions way beyond our ability to explain.
Handheld instruments, and even pieces of equipment like spectrophotometers and refractometers, are still common. We use them in the biotech lab, and the plant-scientists on our campus use them as needed.
LE: Since new cultivars of plants and fungi are being discovered every day, how does scientific instrumentation keep up? PZ and LM-S: It is important to keep in mind that the creation of many of these cultivars are responses to laboratories getting their hands on innovative scientific instrumentation. But be it in the lab or in the field, portability is key. Not only do our instruments have added function when we can apply them in multiple environments, but portability is vital to providing our students opportunities for applied learning. Enhancing technology is great, but we really notice added value and increased efficiency with faster, portable instruments. Oftentimes we are looking to improve how we research, rather than turn our research on its head.