Dr. Joanna Porankiewicz-Asplund
- Please tell us about yourself, your background and how you ended up at Agrisera.
I studied plant biology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland and if not for meeting my future, Swedish husband, who stepped into my parent’s apartment one day, I would never have come to Sweden. I started my postdoc at Umeå Plant Science Centre and worked with Prof. Gunnar Öqvist and Douglas Campbell, as well as Adrian Clark, who was ordering many antibodies from Agrisera for his research at the time. When my postdoc ended, at a time without social media, and companies barely having websites, I tried to find out which life science companies were based in Umeå. Although Agrisera did not offer any positions at that time, they were in need of the development of a method to purify antibodies from egg yolks. This was my first task at the company, completed within a few months. Agrisera was eventually developing hundreds of antibodies for researchers from Sweden and Europe, and naturally the idea of building an antibody catalog was born. It started with a handful of antibodies, developed in collaboration with Umeå Plant Science Centre, and the collection gradually expanded over the years. Over a hundred so-called Global Antibodies, were developed together with Environmental Proteomics, a Canada-based company, founded by Dr. Douglas Campbell.
- What motivated you to get into plant science?
Plants and nature were present in my life from the very beginning. Trips to the forest each weekend, arranged by my father, cultivating vegetables and herbs in our small garden, and lots of indoor plants at home. Studying plant biology was a natural choice for me. Although I never expected that I would move to another country and live as if in a dream, close to the forest.
- What is the approach/thought process behind developing new Agrisera antibodies?
The antibody development process is executed in very close collaboration with the research community. Agrisera attends at least 10 conferences, and supports around 30 meetings all around the world each year. This gives us great opportunities to interact with researchers from many different fields of plant science, whose inputs are invaluable to us. Each antibody suggestion is subjected to an internal validation process, developed and finetuned over decades, before an antibody production is initiated. We are working according to ISO 9001 standards, which means that our decision-making is fact-based and well documented.
- Any further comments?
Plant biology research is crucial to answer many pressing questions in the times of climate change and overpopulation of our planet. I wish it would receive more funding and attention, as without plants we will neither be able to feed the growing population nor live and thrive on Earth.
Links
• Agrisera's Technical Tips
• Western blot resources
• Global Plant Science Events Calendar