Merry Christmas from James Hutton Limited

It has been a very quick and busy year for James Hutton Limited. We work with so many different sectors in various industries, it’s hard to select just a few highlights to share but here's a short round-up of the business in 2018.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers and collaborators a very happy festive season and a prosperous new year. Our offices will be closed from 5pm on Friday 21st December and we will be open for business as usual on Thursday 3rd January 2019.  Mylnefield Lipid Analysis will remain closed until Monday 7th January.

If you haven’t already, please check out our new animation, developed in collaboration with Dundee company, Vivomotion. The animation highlights how we work alongside the James Hutton Institute to deliver a diverse range of world-class services.

Crop Events

Over the past year, James Hutton Limited and our Institute colleagues visited a number of industry events, meeting with customers and collaborators along the way. 

We can confirm we will be at the following events during the first six months of 2019.  To meet with a James Hutton Limited representative at any of these events, please contact Jamie Smith:

International Soft Fruit Conference, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands - 10th January
Attending the conference and exhibiting.

Fruit Logistica, Berlin, 6th – 8th February
On the AHDB stand.

Global Berry Congress, Rotterdam, 26th March
Attending as visitor.

Macfrut, Rimini, Italy, 8th – 10th May
Attending as visitor.

Cereals, Lincolnshire, UK, 12th – 13th June
Exhibiting with James Hutton Institute and International Barley Hub colleagues.

XII Rubus & Ribes Symposium 2019, Zurich, 25th – 28th June
We are delighted to be Gold level sponsors for the event and Ribes Breeder, Dr Dorota Jarrett, will be a key note speaker.

Raspberry Breeding 

Our raspberry focus was very much on new release, Glen Carron, during 2018. Dubbed, ‘the sweet taste of summer’, Glen Carron is a gorgeous berry, with a sweet, confectionery taste. It’s been consistently popular during tastings and is very quickly becoming an industry darling with a glossy appearance, consistent shape and colour, as well as an outstanding shelf life. Find a list of Glen Carron propagators HERE. 

We were very pleased that the AHDB has confirmed renewed funding for the raspberry breeding consortium, which James Hutton Limited has managed for many years. Along with industry funding, this will allow the Consortium to continue from 2019 – 2024. To enquire about industry membership of the consortium, please contact Jamie Smith. 

Blueberry Breeding 

Our Blueberry Breeding Consortium had a very successful year one and we have welcomed two new members to the collaboration bringing the total to six. The programme is still in the early stages but has created quite a buzz already. 

Blackberry Breeding 

Our Blackberry Breeding Consortium, which was formed in January of this year, will also welcome a new member, The Greenery, at a forthcoming meeting. Several crosses prepared for the breeding programme already show promise and we look forward to seeing more good things from our blackberries in 2019. 

Potatoes 

The long, hot summer didn’t hamper the harvest of some fantastic potatoes in 2018!

In July, we heard that two potato varieties bred at the James Hutton Institute have been recommended for release in Kenya. Hutton varieties Gemson and Lady Balfour made the grade after a trial of ten potato varieties at three separate Kenyan farms over two seasons. A further two were recommended in November - Sorrento and Reiver. 

We are really excited about the development of the DRenSeq diagnostic which enables the high-confidence identification and complete sequence validation of functional resistance genes for potatoes. The development could significantly reduce dependency on pesticides for growers. We hope to be able to talk more about services developed from DRenSeq during 2019.

Just last week, we entered into a five-year agreement with Indian company, Technico Agri Sciences, to provide 16 potato varieties and 600 clones to be trialled and tested in India. Picture on the left shows Dr Jonathan Snape with Mr Sachid Madan, Chief Executive of Technico Agri Sciences.

Cereals 

In late November, we heard the great news that plans for an International Barley Hub at the James Hutton Institute has received funding.  

We attended the Cereals event for the first time with our James Hutton Institute colleagues in June (see photo, left) and had a fantastic couple of days. We’ll be there again in 2019 supporting the Institute cereals team in promoting the International Barley Hub. The Institute will also have project trial plots in collaboration with NIAB.

A recently ended Innovate UK project resulted in the development of a new EPH KASP™ marker assay which is available to purchase from James Hutton Limited and as a laboratory testing service using a two-rep test. 

Analytical Services

We were delighted to become part of Water Test Network in 2018, a new European collaboration, funded by the Interreg NWE programme. As a partner laboratory, we will offer validation and quicker routes to market for SMEs developing water treatments and technologies. There is a huge amount of both water and analytical expertise at the James Hutton Institute and we’ve also invested in some new analytical equipment to support this work.

The James Hutton Institute X-ray diffraction team of Professor Steve Hillier, Dr Ian Philips and Helen Pendlowski, was awarded first place in the ninth international Reynolds Cup, a challenge to obtain the most accurate quantitative mineralogical analysis of three artificially prepared, clay-bearing mineralogical samples, using any chosen method or combination of methods. The team came first out of 73 global organisations. 

Contract Research 

Our portfolio of Innovate UK projects continues to grow and diversify.

A prolific project for us this year was Tayberry Seedling, which was a consultancy to gauge attitudes towards the possibility of growing soft fruit in disused, urban greenspaces and how this might ’look’ in reality. Turns out, it looks good, and our Institute colleagues are now working closely with the local council to make this happen. 

Mylnefield Lipid Analysis

Business just seems to be booming for our Mylnefield Lipid Analysis colleagues. The analyses we have provided over the past 12 months have been varied and, in some cases, unique – from Omega-3 consumption studies to research for the development of a new face cream.

Three new team members have joined in the latter part of this year to support the increased work load; Declan Hewitt and Chloe Dormer as Analytical Chemists and Jennifer Haig as Modern Apprentice.

We also launched a new Mylnefield Lipid Analysis website. 

And finally! 

Vacancy – Business Development Manager
We will be pulling out the stops to find the right person to fill our vacancy for a Business Development Manager for the Analytical Services side of our business. This is a fantastic opportunity to work alongside a world-class scientific team.  Ideally, we need someone with a good knowledge and understanding of analytical services as well as strong commercial aptitude. If you think this could be you, be sure to follow James Hutton Limited on social media - more details will be available soon.