Food

The technology presented within the invention disclosure builds on the inventors’ prior art creating a novel way to extract heavy metals from aqueous solutions (i.e. water) for at least two purposes: • cleaning substrates (e.g. semiconductor wafer chips) and • water treatment purposes. The technology uses the concept of electrochemical properties and sonolysis to achieve success at removing contaminants from either an electronic substrate or from water. This is done by applying a bias to a microelectrode while irradiating with ultrasound radiation.

Background: Advances in agriculture and foodstuff production have sustained the current rate of world population growth but have led to an enormous increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides. The impact is often greater than what is intended. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach destination other than their target species including non-target species air water bottom sediments and food. There is a need to accurately and constantly be informed about the quality security and composition of materials of products we consume or encounter in our daily life.

Background: Electrochemical sensors that can quickly selectively and sensitively detect unknown chemicals in air or water are vital for many applications. These include environmental monitoring biomedical diagnostics security applications and food and drinking water safety. Current electrochemical sensors fail to detect low concentrations of important analytes and are often highly dependent on the environmental conditions. In addition electrical sensors are typically large and can be expensive to manufacture.

Stanford and Lawrence Berkeley Labs researchers have developed a molecular method based on guanidinium-rich molecular transporters (GR-MoTrs) for bringing small and large cargos into algal cells. Developed using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii this method is also successful with less studied algae thus providing a new and versatile tool for algal research.

Rice is an essential food source for more than 50% of the world’s population. Heat and drought stress are important factors limiting rice production exacerbated by the impending threat of climate change. Stress tolerant cultivars are needed to expand rice production. Drought tolerant varieties have been developed but in narrow genetic backgrounds characterized only in simulated growing conditions.

Black walnut trees are one of the most valuable species in the United States. The hardwood is used in making quality lumber and veneer and has an added benefit of producing walnuts used in food production. Hardwood trees in general have many other benefits. They provide environmental stabilization as windbreakers protection from watershed and reclamation. The raw materials from the wood are used in cosmetic pharmaceutical and botanical industries.

A novel amphiphilic co-polymer with enhanced anion transport performance is being successfully developed at Stanford University. The design improves the ionic conductivities of Alkaline Exchange Membranes Fuel Cells (AEMFC). Although the design is not yet optimized a 50% increase over AEMFC\\\'s baseline material of quaternary ammonium polysulfone membrane was achieved in performance metrics that include in-plane conductivity and peak power density. The design maintains all of the benefits typical of AEMFC such as using inexpensive metal catalysts in a low acidic environment.

Summary: The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in developing a simple and quick process for making large amounts of thiosulfinates and derivatives which could serve as food ingredients or supplements to deliver health-promoting benefits from vegetables like onion and garlic. Detailed Technology Description: Many of the documented health-promoting properties of Allium vegetables such as onion garlic or chive have been ascribed to the organosulfur compounds unique to these species.

Background: Certain growth substances regulate the internal signaling mechanisms of plants. Once such class of substances known as brassinosteroids is a unique class of biologically active natural products that possess plant steroidal hormone activity. This invention provides identification of nucleic acid molecules that encode the proteins involved in the synthesis of brassionosteroids. Invention Description: The brassionosteroids can be used as plant protectants from both pesticide and environmental adversity and appear to be useful in insect control.

Algal biofuels as a renewable source of energy: Microalgae are promising third-generation energy sources due to the large amount of biofuels stored in them. They can survive in undesirable aquatic and maritime environments and do not compete with traditional food crops. When algae is harvested they can either be dried and heated to generate lipids or they can undergo a process known as hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) which is more efficient than pyrolysis due to the lack of a drying step.