Discoveries Speaker Series: UFV Geography Department
Thursday, September 19, 2013 – Room: A413 – 2:30pm
Dr. Lucy Lee speaks on “Potential contributions of non-mammalian cell lines to biotechnological advancements in agriculture and environmental sustainability.”
The development and use of cell lines (continuous cell cultures) for non-mammalian species, especially for bees, shellfish and fish have been minimal despite their vast diversity and ecological/economical importance. Although there are about 300 piscinid cell lines reported to date, many more are needed to assist in understanding growth, developing tools, screening compounds, evaluating nutrients, manipulating genes, controlling pathogens, etc. The same is desirable for honeybees and shellfish, yet to date and despite many attempts, no cell lines are available from these species, whose economic value to Canada and the world are in the billions of dollars. My laboratory is expanding beyond the development of fish cell lines, to honeybees and crustaceans. A review of the literature on the attempts and progress to date towards the establishment of some of these species cell lines will be presented.