Melissa Bailey Photo
Gov. M. Jodi Rell bit into a one-of-a-kind strawberry that survived the black vine weevil. It marked the fruition of a legislative campaign to encourage state workers to come up with agricultural inventions.
Rell relished a bowl of Rubicon strawberry shortcake Friday afternoon at a press event outside the main lab of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), a state science research agency based at 123 Huntington St. in New Haven. She was there to celebrate the passage of a new law, signed Friday, that allows CAES to seek patents for discoveries and inventions developed by its employees. The law aims to make CAES more self-sufficient, and encourage innovation, by returning revenue from patents, trademarks or licensing agreements to CAES — and to the scientists themselves.
CAES pushed for the law, H.B. 5543, because of a special strawberry plant with “vigorous” roots and an “explosive” taste.
Two CAES scientists, entomologist Rich Cowles and pathologist Jim LaMondia, created the so-called Rubicon strawberry plant by crossing other plants. Their goal was to reduce pesticide use by creating a new strain of pest-resistant plant. They set out in 2000 with their sights on two enemies: black root rot and an insect called the black vine weevil. The root rot is caused by little nematodes, roundworms that live in the soil. They drill holes into tender strawberry roots, making way for a fungus to invade and eat away the root. The weevils also attack the roots.
Both have been afflicting strawberry plants in small-scale “You Pick” fields across the state, Cowles said.
The duo spent 10 years coming up with a pest-resistant plant that also bore tasty fruit, Cowles said. They made a “cross” between two plants in 2000. In 2002, the first fruit emerged. Then they went about narrowing down the myriad variants to pick the tastiest one. Each seed on a single strawberry has a different genetic blueprint, Cowles said. That produces a wide array of options to choose from. Over six years, Cowles narrowed down a group of 4,000 plants into about two dozen top contenders.
Cowles (pictured) spent hours-long sessions slicing small pieces from strawberries and rating how they tasted. The process was actually painful, he said, because of how the acidic berry burns the mouth.
At long last, he came up with the perfect berry — “vermilion” in color, “explosive” in taste. He called it the “Rubicon.”
The name refers to the Rubicon river in Italy. When Julius Caesar crossed the river, it was considered an act of war. Cowles said his strawberry plant has such strong, “extremely vigorous” roots that it resists being besieged by black vine weevil larvae, or by black root rot. The little larvae will try to nibble the roots, but they won’t do much damage, he said.
Thus, he declared war on the enemy.
“I’m the person who crossed the Rubicon,” Cowles said.
He said Rubicon also stands for “Ruby” for the color, plus “Con” for Connecticut.
He and his colleague would like CAES to patent their invention and sell the plant to farms. Until the new law kicks in on Oct. 1, the inventors wouldn’t get any revenue if they did so. Under current law, revenue from a patent on a CAES invention would get kicked back to the state’s general fund instead of to CAES and its inventors, Cowles explained.
He called that a major “disincentive” to CAES to invent anything. New Haven State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield co-sponsored the bill that changed the way the patents were done. He stood by Friday as Rell signed copies of the bill.
Rell also announced that she expects the State Bond Commission to approve $1.26 million to renovate a CAES lab building in New Haven. The commission is slated to meet on July 13. CAES is funded by $4 million in federal grants and just shy of $7 million from the state, according to director Louis Magnarelli. He said the $1.26 million would go toward rehabbing Jenkin’s Laboratory, which was built in 1932 and is not handicapped-accessible.
After the ceremonial signing, Cowles hustled over to a food tent, where little Rubicons were soaking in a sugary sauce. He scooped them onto shortbread he’d made for the occasion. He topped them with Reddi-wip topping.
Rell accepted the gift.
“Delicious!” she declared.
Thank you for covering the Governor's press conference. I should add that any royalties obtained from the patent on the new strawberry plant will also be reinvested in research and also help pay for utility and other operating costs. Some of the royalties would go to the inventor(s) after costs for securing the patent have been recovered. This plant will result in less pesticides being used in growing areas and lower farm costs.