A researcher at Delaware State University is awarded patents for a plant propagation system.
Bertrand Hankoua, an assistant professor in DSU’s Department of Human Ecology, was awarded a series of three patents, along with Ayalew Osena, a former DSU postdoctoral researcher who is now at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.
"The patent was trying to address problems related to the propagation of Miscanthus x giganteus, which is a very important system for many applications," said Hankoua.
This could lead to an increase in the production of biofuels, bioenergy and high-valued chemicals.
The title for all of the patents is System for Rapid, Robust, and Efficient in vitro Mass Propagation of MISCANTHUS x GIGANTEUS.
The Miscanthus x giganteus, while highly desired, is tough to mass reproduce, but they’ve done that at DSU’s research farm in Smyrna, where 50 plants planted in 2016 now look like a jungle.
Hankoua – the primary inventor on these patents – says the next step is licensing the technology locally, nationally and internationally to perennial grass growers for various applications.
"Biofuel, animal bedding, phytoremediation, bioelectricity," said Hankoua.
The hope is the patents could dramatically reduce the planting cost of a major energy crop.
The plan is to focus on licenses for those who massively produce and commercialize Miscanthus x Giganteus seedlings.
