b'Ready, Set, Go!ALEX PLAYDON ACROSS THE GLOBE COVID-19 restrictions are RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENTbeing loosened, lifted, or eliminated. This PROJECT LEAD, 20/20 SEED LABS doesnt mean the end of the pandemic is alex@2020seedlabs.ca a foregone conclusion. Chances are well@2020Seedlabs need to remain adaptable and ready to pivot 2020seedlabs.ca should cases rise again.Our team is looking forward to in-person connection and seeing people face-to-face again, but when we recently sat down with Think You Know When DNA wasour business development team to define what back to business looks like, we found Discovered? You Might be Surprised it brought up a whole lot of questions. It also helped us identify that after two years YOUVE LIKELY HEARD of PCR testing, as those three letters have beenof operating virtually, we needed to revisit used a lot in the media in recent months. But what is PCR andsome sales process fundamentals and re-how does it benefit those of us in the seed world? engage and activate the team.The discovery of DNA happened a very long time ago, muchIf you havent started these back to earlier than we often think. Its commonly believed that Americannormal conversation with your team yet, biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick discov- please see it as the great opportunity that ered DNA in the 1950s. Actually, DNA was first identified in 1869it can be. Now is the perfect time to bring by Swiss chemist Friedrich Miescher. your team together and get strategic. Coming What Watson and Crick did in 1952 was discover that the DNAtogether with your team creates an opportu-molecule exists in the form of a three-dimensional double helix.nity to identify where coaching or training This was a major find, as it paved the way for new testing thatmay be needed.led to what we know today as polymerase chain reaction (PCR),We recently attended our first couple of developed in the 1980s. in-person meetings and events. It was a great Sometimes called molecular photocopying, PCR is a fast andexperience, and these were our biggest take-inexpensive technique used to copy small segments of DNA.aways:Because significant amounts of a sample of DNA are necessary for Be flexiblenot everyone is ready to molecular and genetic analyses, using a single piece of DNA toshake hands or stand shoulder to shoul-get results is virtually impossible. You need to make many copiesder.of it first. Plan for extra talk timepeople are To copy DNA using PCR, the sample is first heated and thenexcited to be together and catch up.separates. Next, an enzyme is used to build two new strands ofGather and share contentchances are you DNA, which results in the duplication of the original DNA, withor some of your customers are taking baby each of the new molecules containing one old and one new strandsteps towards travel again. Be a resource of DNA. Each of these strands can be used to create millions ofand find ways to deliver them your key exact copies of the original DNA segment. learning during and after the event.PCR testing, in a nutshell, helps your bottom line due to the Have an action planwhat do you want speed at which we can generate results. Whether you want toto achieve and what does a successful detect a trait like glyphosate tolerance or want to know whethermeeting/event look like.you bred a gene into a seed correctly, we can detect exactly whatHave funno explanation required!you want and have the result as early as the next day.Of course, PCR is evolving. Its becoming faster all the time, and able to do more things. We have developed a PCR-based test for soybean cyst nematode and blackleg. With the latter, we will be able to actually determine the race of blackleg on a sample ofSHAWN BROOKcanola stubble. Your customers can then match seed resistance to that exact blackleg race, giving them the potential to preventPRESIDENT,further infection. SEED WORLD CREATEIf the topic of PCR comes up in conversation for you, dont hes- sbrook@seedworldgroup.comitate to educate others about the wonders of this amazing technol-@SeedWorldGroupogy, and how it all first began way back when John A. Macdonaldseedworldgroup.comwas prime minister.32GERMINATION.CAMARCH 2022'