Links to Industry
Tina M. Prow
Last year, the University of Illinois released high-oil corn germplasm to industry in a move to further research and bring a potentially high-value crop to farmers.
Du Pont Company and Pfister Hybrid Corn Company gained an exclusive license to develop and commercialize germplasm. They agreed to pay royalties to the University and to fund a collaborative research program that brings together Du Pont and University of Illinois researchers.
The agreement represents the kind of relationship between industry and universities necessary to sustain and renew agriculture, according to John Goss, research supervisor in Du Pont's Stine-Haskell Research Laboratory, Newark, Delaware.
"We're not just an additional funding source," Goss said. "I see our collaboration as part of the Agricultural Experiment Station's effort to do a better job of getting the technology and new products out into the agricultural community.
"And we see having more collaborative relationships with the University as a way we can access other technologies for a fair royalty and research funding commitment, thus allowing us to more rapidly determine whether or not a business opportunity exists and, if it does, to get it to the marketplace."
Traditionally, industry has looked to university researchers for long-term research, cutting-edge discoveries, and new technologies, said Robert Fraley, director of Monsanto's Plant Science and Technology Program, St. Louis. In the biotechnology arena, however, many companies have internal research capabilities and programs of their own.
Still, the field is moving so quickly that every research program is dependent on discoveries made in other laboratories, Fraley said. Consequently, collaboration is key to keeping abreast of important developments, maximizing resources, and minimizing risk.
"We're looking for the type of interaction that involves
the true exchange between scientists at a university and at Monsanto; where
we can bring different pools of expertise together, or different ways of
attacking a complicated problem," he said. Monsanto, with an eye toward
recruitment and a predicted shortage of scientists, also provides funding
for University of Illinois science students and hosts tours to familiarize
young scientists with industry research.
Agronomy students were invited for Science Daze at Monsanto last summer.
A collaborative relationship will be even more important as biotechnology-based products begin to move from laboratories to field research, through the regulatory process, and then to consumers. Gaining regulatory approval and public acceptance of such products will be a challenge for the entire research community, he said.
"Almost everything I see - whether driven by pure research interest, limited funding that's available, or the magnitude of the commercialization issue - forces a tight linkage in partnership to ensure that we have the best possible chance for success," Fraley said.
Both Goss and Fraley are University of Illinois graduates. Tina M. Prow, communications specialist, Office of Agricultural Communications and Education
