History

It's no accident that history-making innovations have deep-seeded foundations in matching solutions to problems.

BioGuard's story is best told through "The Blood, Sweat and Years of Developing a Product," an article that appeared in the September 1989 edition of R&D Magazine. Subtitled "How researchers at Battelle's Northwest Lab waged war to bring a seemingly hopeless idea to market," the article describes a day in 1978 when, over a game of bridge, four Battelle researchers conjured up the idea of "putting plants on birth control." From there, the rest is—as they say—history.

". . .Today, that technology is being used in Sunnyvale, California, to keep sewer lines from being clogged with plant roots; in Chicago, to stop grass from breaking up the runways at O'Hare airport; and in farms across the country, to keep irrigation pipes free of vegetation. It is the basis for several new companies, with more in the works.

"But we're getting ahead of the story. To appreciate what Van Voris and his colleagues at Battelle have achieved, you have to go back more than a decade to 1978.

"It all started with a game of bridge. . ."

If you have a fast Internet connection and would like to read the complete article, it is offered in PDF format, which requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have the viewer already, it is available from Adobe's Web site.

I have the viewer and have time for the file to download—show me the article! (3.7Mb)

Used with permission.