Hey all, I was wondering if anyone knew if the AOS has awarded the Eric. E. Young somatic hybridization prize of $50,000? I haven't heard of somatic hybrids being produced in orchids yet, but I could easily have missed something... Thanks

--Stephen

Cannot help thinking of a vanda-blue Paph... And of a multifloral P. micranthum...

<<<Chun

Stephen,

No, to my knowledge no one has claimed this prize....yet! I worked on this problem briefly while I obtained my degree in biology. I even met with Dr. Rob Griesbach to discuss the problem. I had some great ideas .... and no funding. Seriously, why does anyone want to spend $250,000 to win $50000? Despite my attempts to convince the powers that be that they really needed a unidirectional Coulter LASER assisted cell separator, no one but me bought into it. C'est la vie..... :cry:

Those that are currently working on similar problems are more interested in inserting genetic material from one type of plant inot another, to obtin true blue coloration in orchids, say....

If you find out more, PM me!

Yeah, If I were the one doing the research and figured out a method my first action would be to patent the process. The Eric Young Orchid Foundation donated the money to the AOS specifically for this prize, although I doubt it will ever be claimed.

Have they made any big jumps in color transfer recently? I read that Dr. Griesbach has been working with petunias (I think) and has achieved some success, but a vibrant blue has yet to be realized. Have they yet figured out which copigments are needed along with delphinidin?

It would be cool though to see a lycastiopedilum.

--Stephen

Stephen,
One of the bg names in the orchid world is funding a project at a northwestern university to try to use the genes that produce the blue color in Irises to get that same color in daylilies and orchids. I don't know how the research is going.

Apparently, the carnation work that was done by Griesbach showed that even these plants depend on an intracellular pH to generate a deeper blue pigment.