WATERLOO, Ont. (Sept. 5, 2012) - One of the biggest global challenges we face today is the nourishment of billions of people in a sustainable way. But when there’s not enough water to grow crops for this purpose, and when the overuse of chemicals causes environmental catastrophe in our lakes and fields, the problem can seem insurmountable.
University of Waterloo chemical engineering assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Advanced Targeted Delivery Systems, Dr. Frank Gu, and his team have developed a novel biodegradable device that targets the roots of plants and delivers what they need most, be it water, nutrients, or other bioactive materials. Although the device doesn’t generate water itself, it stores it, and can release it when needed. The ability to release in slow time has implications not only for crops such as canola, corn, and wheat in times of drought or low precipitation, but for lawn management and recreational use as well.
By targeting the root system of plants, the current cost and practice of fertilizing over a large area only to have the run-off leach into lakes and streams can be avoided. Even common challenges such as fungal infections can be overcome by delivering the appropriate therapeutic drugs in a timely way to specific plants without killing everything else in the vicinity. And the best part is that the device will decompose when its purpose is served, thus paving the way for sustainable agriculture.
Potentially, there are even some other worldly applications as well. Since this device doesn’t rely on gravity to deliver nutrients, it can conceivably be used in space to grow plants. Interestingly, the idea of targeting plants’ root systems arose out of research Dr. Frank Gu once did with targeted drug delivery for prostate cancer.
The Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo), working in partnership with Dr. Frank Gu, has filed a patent application on the biodegradable hydrogel device technology. Saeed Bagheri, serving as technology transfer officer within WatCo, has worked with the researcher to successfully secure $157K of funding from the C4 Network – Proof of Principle and the NSERC-Idea to Innovation programs to fund the development of commercially relevant prototypes that will be marketed to potential licensees or startup company investors.
For further information, please contact Saeed Bagheri.