Summer 2006
Flour Power: WSU Wheat Breeder Kimberlee Kidwell Concludes the 2005-2006 Season of Seattle Science & Technology Roundtable
Some fascinating science goes into the bread that we buy. Oatmeal may be the perennial favorite of the STRT faithful, but as we learned from Dr. Kimberlee Kidwell at the final breakfast of the 2005-2006 season, wheat is really neat.
People take a lot of things for granted about the food that they consume. Wheat tends to be one of those things, an attitude Dr. Kidwell would like to change. Wheat, she emphasized, is really a specialty crop. Different wheat varieties boast specific characteristics, such as gluten strength, that make them ideal for certain uses. For example, the hard red and hard white varieties are best for bread, while club wheat is perfect for pastry. And nothing compares to soft white when it comes to baking cookies.
What about that all purpose flour lined up on supermarket shelves, you may ask? It’s more like “no purpose flour,” according to Dr. Kidwell. “It’s kind of, sort of good for everything, but not great for anything....Wheat is not wheat is not wheat.”
She should know. In 12 years with the WSU spring wheat breeding program, Dr. Kidwell has introduced eight new varieties for commercial production in the state. Washington, many people are surprised to learn, is a wheat-producing powerhouse, second in the country only to Kansas. Even so, chances are slim that you consume much home-grown grain: 85% of the wheat produced in the Pacific Northwest is exported overseas, the bulk of it to Southeast Asia.
Washington is one of the few places in the country in which both spring and winter wheat varieties can thrive. Farmers tend to prefer winter wheat for its higher yield and profit potential. To win favor among growers for her spring wheat varieties, Dr. Kidwell cultivates attributes that reduce input costs and increase market demand. Employing traditional breeding techniques and cutting edge biotechnology tools, she and her team focus on breeding varieties that reduce the need for fertilizers and pesticides, resist disease and herbicides, and carry enhanced milling, baking and nutritional properties.
A new wheat variety gets its start in WSU’s greenhouse, a state-of-the-art facility which enables Dr. Kidwell to shave four years off of the typical 8-12 year breeding process. The greenhouse also serves as a staging area, allowing researchers to screen their wheat plants for disease and determine which of them possess essential genes before moving into field trials. Ultimately, only one or two lines tested in the field – out of more than 30,000 – are identified as having variety release potential each year.
In the laboratory, Dr. Kidwell and her team use gene mapping to identify desirable traits and select for end-use quality. Essential properties they look for include grain hardness, gluten strength, protein content, and, for the Asian market, noodle color; in short, all of the qualities that will increase the marketability of Washington-grown wheat. She also employs what she calls “genetic therapy” to correct serious flaws such as susceptibility to stripe rust, a devastating disease in wheat plants, by introducing a gene that fixes the problem. Many of the techniques she applies to wheat have origins in human health research.
While the primary mission of WSU’s wheat breeding program is to serve Washington wheat growers, it has another, perhaps lesser known but no less important function: providing hands-on learning and mentoring to students. In addition to training graduate students, Dr. Kidwell has worked with more than 80 undergraduate assistants, who are fully integrated into the program and work alongside the researchers. Dr. Kidwell herself was inspired to pursue wheat breeding as her life’s work after a similar experience when she was a student.
“This is part of the ‘face to face’ piece in our motto ‘world class, face to face.’ We really do this, and we mean it,” Dr. Kidwell said. “The impact that these kids have had on my research program has been profound.”
WSU-developed wheat varieties account for more than 85% of all varieties grown in the state and generate approximately $500 million in revenue for Washington farmers each year. Dr. Kidwell’s spring wheat research is supported by a combination of funding from the state, the wheat growing industry, and competitive grants.
Learn Something New – Register for the Science & Technology Discovery Series!
Get up close and personal with our state’s leading scientists. Discover groundbreaking research taking place in your own back yard. Experience science and technology like you never have before.
You don’t have to take notes, but you just might find that you want to.
The new season of the Technology Alliance’s popular Science & Technology Discovery Series* starts in September! With programs in Seattle and Spokane, the Discovery Series features presentations on the latest research at our preeminent institutions and innovative companies in an intimate setting.
The Seattle Discovery Series kicks off on September 8th with Dr. Steve Malone, professor of earth and space sciences at University of Washington, sharing his expert insights on the recent volcanic activity at Mt. St. Helens. The Seattle program features ten monthly breakfast presentations from September through June. For more information or to become a member, click here.
The Spokane Discovery Series has expanded! The new season will feature seven breakfasts between September and June, starting with Dr. Lee Siwek, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon at Sacred Heart Medical Center, on September 22nd. Dr. Siwek will speak about the use of the da Vinci robot in cardiac bypass surgery. For more information or to become a member, click here.
*Formerly Science & Technology Roundtable
Progress and Pitfalls: Measuring Washington’s Performance in the Key Drivers of a Vibrant Technology-based Economy
Excellent K-12 and higher education systems, to prepare our kids for the knowledge-based jobs of the future...
Strong research capacity, to generate the discoveries and technologies of tomorrow...
A robust entrepreneurial climate, to support the growth of innovative young companies that create new products, services, and jobs...
These are the essential elements of a successful technology-based economy. In 2003, the Technology Alliance benchmarked Washington’s performance in these critical areas against that of eight peer states with similarly technology-intensive economies: California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas and Virginia. Now, three years later, we measure Washington’s progress and examine the potential pitfalls for our state’s long-term competitiveness.
Alliance of Angels Startup of the Year Award: Sonic Science and Skin Care Prove a Heavenly Mix for Pacific Bioscience Laboratories
Pacific Bioscience Laboratories, the Bellevue-based developer of the CLARISONIC skin care brush, rose above a strong field of six finalists to capture the 2006 Startup of the Year Award, which recognizes entrepreneurial excellence in the Pacific Northwest. The award was presented to CEO David Giuliani and COO Mike Stull at the State of Technology Luncheon in Seattle on May 15th.
Technology Alliance Board Elects Marty Smith as New Chair, Welcomes New Members
The Technology Alliance is pleased to announce the election of Marty Smith, partner in Preston Gates & Ellis LLP and a long-time advocate for education, as our new chair. We also welcomed four outstanding business and community leaders to the board at its May 25th meeting: Mic Dinsmore of the Port of Seattle; Michael Martino of Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Tom Vander Ark of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Peter Wilson of Google.
Welcome New Alliance of Angels Fellows!
A warm welcome to our 2006-07 AoA program managers: Rebecca Lovell, full-time Preston Gates & Ellis Fellow, and Avniel Dravid, part-time Alliance of Angels fellow.
Our thanks and best wishes to our departing 2005-06 fellows, Edward Hansen and Erik Hanson.
Thank You to Our Geoffrey Moore Workshop Participants!
On July 13th in Seattle, the Technology Alliance was proud to present a special luncheon workshop with Geoffrey Moore, bestselling author of Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado. Geoffrey explored the different ways in which companies innovate and revealed how companies can overcome their own inertia and manage resources more effectively in pursuit of innovation. After the workshop, Geoffrey took the time to chat with members of the audience and sign copies of his latest book, Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution. If you missed it, you can download the podcast here.
The Technology Alliance would like to thank Geoffrey, Kim Ricketts Books, and the following sponsors for their part in making the workshop a great success: Cisco Systems; Enpria, Inc.; F5 Networks, Inc.; Microsoft Windows Live; Onyx Software; and Wells Fargo Bank.