"New Generation Seed Production"

TRD Biotek produces pure improved varieties of domestic seeds using plant tissue culture techniques. The company's first production, 'Taşköprü Garlic' at the field stage, grows rapidly, is productive, virus-free, hardy, and contains no foreign genes or GMOs. TRD Biotek continues third-generation work on lycopene-enriched processing tomato seeds. TRD Biotek, based at Teknopark İstanbul, produces pure improved varieties of domestic seeds. The first seed produced using plant tissue culture techniques with no genetic intervention, 'Taşköprü Garlic', is at the field stage. This improved variety of Taşköprü Garlic—which grows faster, is more productive, virus-free, hardy, and contains no foreign genes or GMOs—will be supported. The company continues third-generation work on domestic tomato seeds with increased lycopene content and is developing clean seed technologies. Prof. Dr. Özge Çelik, founder and director of TRD Biotek, answered questions from İstanbul Chamber of Commerce. Prof. Dr. Çelik, Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul Kültür University Faculty of Science and Letters, has conducted scientific research in plant biotechnology for 19 years.

INVESTMENT IN DOMESTIC SEEDS

What was the goal behind establishing TRD Biotek?

My objective was to bring innovation to our country's seed industry. I established my company with TÜBİTAK 1512 Technology Entrepreneurship Capital Support-BIGG in April 2016. While encouraging my students to work in the seed sector, I took action with the thought that I needed to set an example. Without ignoring the fact that Turkey is an agricultural country and the agricultural wealth of our geography, I wanted to remind that we need R&D investments in domestic seeds within the digital world.

What is your field of activity?

We conduct R&D work to contribute to the agricultural development of our country's economy and to adapt biotechnological innovations to the seed industry. Our aim is to preserve our local gene resources and agricultural productivity. For this reason, we are 100 percent domestic and national. When selecting our first commercial product, we planned for it to be a niche for our country.

NEXT-GENERATION SEED PRODUCTION

What we do is 'next-generation seed production'. Preventing productivity losses caused by viral infections; while doing this, protecting our local gene resources and ensuring our farmers are aware of new technologies is one of our basic functions.

Are viral diseases a serious threat?

Viral infections cause significant productivity losses in our country. When we consider the garlic, the product of our first project, our country producing 100 thousand tons of garlic annually requires 7,500 tons of seed. Because our farmers lose the garlic cloves they keep for seed due to viral diseases and cannot plant the following year. With virus-free Taşköprü Garlic, we aim to prevent our farmers from losing the seed stock they will use in the following year.

Do you receive support?

We have collaborations from Ireland and Germany. We are conducting EU project partnership discussions with Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. When you work with plants, you must also consider environmental conditions. It is a very sensitive process and subsequently involves quality control tests and molecular analyses to demonstrate the purity of our seeds. We are not currently receiving any support.

IMITATING NATURE

What are your agricultural productivity studies?

We have research that will enable production using methods we would call green technology for agricultural productivity. Essentially, what we do is imitate nature. In the laboratory, under sterile conditions, by providing daylight and the macro and micronutrients plants need from soil, we enable plant development.

TEKNOPARK ADVANTAGE

What are the advantages of being in Teknopark İstanbul?

I see being in one of Turkey's most important technology centers first and foremost as prestige. We speak the same language. We are in a special environment where we come together to produce technology. To develop our work, we can access all expertise and opportunities in the shortest time. We can share information with companies in our field located in technopars throughout Turkey and transfer our experience.

STATE SUPPORT

Prof. Dr. Çetin stated, "While the importance of domestic seed is being understood, we are forgetting the soil and the farmer. Farmer education is important at this point. We need state support in bringing the seeds we have developed together with farmers."

HIGH-LYCOPENE TOMATO ON THE WAY

TRD Biotek obtained the third generation within the scope of the project to develop industrial-type tomato seeds with increased lycopene content, with yield and quality analyses ongoing. Tomato seeds for processing with increased lycopene content will provide advantages to domestic producers and will secure a significant share of tomato seed exports.

R&D ON TAŞKÖPRÜ GARLIC

Prof. Dr. Çelik stated, "Our first R&D project was to produce next-generation Taşköprü Garlic seeds that are virus-free, have shortened germination time, contain no GMOs, have high productivity, and contain no foreign genes. We conducted our research in our laboratories at Teknopark İstanbul. We aim to revive Taşköprü Garlic cultivation, which is economically important worldwide in terms of the soils it grows in and gene resources."

AWARD-WINNING PROJECT

The Taşköprü Garlic Project won TRD Biotek second place in the Bigbang 2015 competition organized by İTÜ Teknokent among 3,900 startups. While İstanbul Chamber of Industry, İTÜ NovaTTO, and Ege Chemicals supported the project, Prof. Dr. Çelik received educational support from İSO Koza.   Source