Author: Luigi Guarino

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Will the real Musa haekkinenii please stand up?

Oh dear. The Musa taxonomists among you will have spotted that the wild banana species illustrated in the previous post, with Markku Häkkinen standing beside it, was not the new species he recently discovered in Vietnam but rather Musa viridis. Markku is understandably a bit incensed about it and asked us to correct ScienceNordic’s error. We are happy to do so, with apologies for perpetuating the mistake, and to publish below Markku’s photo of the real Musa haekkinenii. I knew I should have waited for ProMusa to do its thing.

Musa haekkinenii (photo by Markku Häkkinen)
Musa haekkinenii (photo by Markku Häkkinen)
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Finnish sea captain finds new banana in Vietnam

Markku Häkkinen and Musa viridis. (The original caption said M haekkinenii, but Häkkinen himself corrected us, and would like to stop this error in its tracks.) Photo: Maarten Christenhusz.
Markku Häkkinen and Musa viridis. (The original caption said M haekkinenii, but Häkkinen himself corrected us, and would like to stop this error in its tracks.) Photo: Maarten Christenhusz.

Finnish sea captain and amateur botanist Markku Häkkinen has studied wild bananas for nearly 40 years. Now he has found the new species to science.

That’s from ScienceNordic. The new species is called Musa haekkinenii, and was described earlier this year in Phytotaxa by a team of Vietnamese taxonomists, who graciously named it after Markku. Congratulations to all concerned. And we look forward to seeing the full details on ProMusa.

LATER: No, wait.

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Crowdsourcing money for Dutch heirloom pigs

Among the 2012 Arca-Deli® Awards for Prestige and Marketing Value (announced in October but only coming across my radar screen now, via Facebook), this one particularly caught my eye:

Extraordinary Pigs! 100’000 Euro raised through crowdfunding for rearing rare breed pigs in the Netherlands, producing good tasting pork and for increasing animal welfare. An innovative project which combines conservation of the old with modern methods. “Like” their Facebook page to keep up with their news or visit their website.

Alas, both seem to be exclusively in Dutch, which is a pity as I’d really like to know more about how they managed to raise all that cash.

LATER: And thanks to Twitter, here’s the secret revealed:

Thanks, @dsmnutrition!

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Nibbles: Rice farming, Funny teas, Funny fruits, Christmas fare, Online course, Seasonal genomes, Malaysia shares, School shares

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CIMMYT genebank ISO certified at last

The CIMMYT Maize and Wheat Germplasm Bank achieved ISO9001:2008 certification this week, after nearly two years of data gathering, intensive analysis, and assessment of processes and best practices. The ISO standards relate to quality management systems and are designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders, while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements. The CIMMYT Maize and Wheat Germplasm Bank is the first CGIAR germplasm bank to achieve ISO9001 certification, and is now one of only three genebanks globally to achieve certification (and the first outside of Europe). CIMMYT staff and areas involved in this certification included both the germplasm banks, human resources, purchasing, risk management, security, maintenance, and ICT departments. A special thanks is extended to Bibiana Espinosa and Paulina Gonzalez, both of whom sheparded the lengthy process to this noteworthy conclusion.

That’s from CIMMYT’s Informa newsletter, No. 1823, dated 23 November-7 December 2012. I got it as a pdf but have not been able to find it online. Maybe someone at CIMMYT can help me out. Anyway, congratulations to everyone at the genebank. Meanwhile, if you have strong ideas about ISO for genebanks, either way, you can leave them here.

LATER: And here is the online announcement.