b"Science and former U of T departmental floormate of Samuels, says in a phone interview. He has been supplying ideas and technical expertise in the field on all sorts of things like developmentalIts called metabolic engineering biology, genetics, crop development towhere we tweak about six the industry for over a decade.Samuel grew up in India wheregenes at the same time to create he received his bachelors degree inthis. So, its ongoing. We dont agriculture and his masters degree in plant biotechnology. He then movedeven have preliminary data to Canada to study for his PhD at thefrom it, we are waiting for some University of British Columbia where he focused on the molecular biologyresults. Very exciting times. of plants and how plants respond to stressors. Samuel then moved across Marcus Samuelthe country to the U of T for his post-doctoral work which is where he was introduced to the world of canola.U of T. Northeys PhD work had focusedFrontier Agri-Science isnt the only No one Wants Green Canola on drought tolerant wheat lines andcompany Samuel is working with. Hes Samuels first task after finishing hisas he wrapped up his studies Samuelalso collaborating with Nutrien on studies was looking at what was causingand him both felt there were somedeveloping a pod shatter canola line for those pesty green canola seeds. As heunanswered questions.the company. Samuels team discovered started at the U of C in 2008, he workedNorthey founded Frontier Agri- some shatter tolerant genes that werent on developing a program to look intoSciences in 2010 and quickly partneredpatent protected. They showed these why canola seeds stay green under frostwith Samuel for his wheat breedinggenes to Nutrien and Nutrien asked them conditions. work. In 2012 the two started theirto use these genes to make elite canola When they are hit for with frost, youwork focusing on creating a non-GMOlines.get the green seed level going up inapproach to improving water useSo we are working with Nutrien canola and that is a major loss in theefficiency and drought tolerance inin both gene editing and mutational industry. If the quality drops, the pricecrops. approach to create a shatter tolerant line for your canola drops. So then weWe figured out a chemical screen.for the company, Samuel adds.figured out the genetic network thatWhat you do is you mutate your seeds,Samuel is also working with a actually controls this pathway, Samuelit could be any seeds, like canola seeds,company called Farmer's - Legacy explains. wheat seeds, pulse seeds, and then youBiotech to develop a canola oil thats From there Samuel and his teamput it on this chemistry. This chemistrysimilar to coconut oil. Farmer's - Legacy found if they overexpressed one gene,is quite innovating to the seedlingBiotech wants to create a canola oil that then the issue of green seed is solved.growthwe are looking for mutantsis a coconut like oil that can be used as They published several papers onthat can grow on this chemistry. Ifa substitute for palm oil which is taken their findings which then brought theanything would survive and grow onfrom forests in Southeast Asia and isnt industry knocking. Samuel says theythis particular chemical then we knowsustainable. have ongoing projects right now wherebased on our fundamental discoveryIt's called metabolic engineering they are working on bringing this canolathat these plants would be droughtwhere we tweak about six genes at the technology to market. tolerant, Samuel explains. same time to create this. So, it's ongoing. Solving the green seed canola problemOnce they got to the point whereWe don't even have preliminary data isnt the only thing Samuel has done inthey were able to do some small-scalefrom it, we are waiting for some results. his time at the U of C. Hes also spentfield trials, their results showed yieldVery exciting times, he says.time looking into pod shatter canolaincreases. They applied for a grantFor Samuel plant breeding is a long and drought tolerant crops which arefrom Genome Alberta which theyand invigorating process. While he may becoming more important as climatewere granted in 2019, and recently theynot have any of his technology out in change raises temperatures around thewere also awarded a grant from thefields yet, hes optimistic about the future globe.Agricultural Development Fund (ADF).of the work he is doing.The purpose of the ADF grant is forThat's how we work. We keep finding Working Together them to breed their best drought tolerantnew things and see who wants to Northey met Samuel while he waswheat lines into Agriculture and Agri- partner, he says.completing his own PhD studies at thefood Canadas own elite wheat lines.Ashley Robinson34seed.ab.ca"