TUE AM News: AmebaGone uses benign organisms to attack pathogens in production crops

— Protecting crops against bacterial invasion is an eternal struggle for agriculture.

Antibiotics can’t address everything that poses a threat, and many pathogens have evolved to become resistant to antibiotics. Novel ways to address bacterial pathogens must be developed to keep crops safe and available for consumption.

In 2010, a group of five people had the idea of creating something that could compete against the bacterial pathogens that plague plants, specifically within the agricultural field. AmebaGone has gone on to develop products to accomplish this, and has now set its sights set on apples and potatoes.

The concept behind AmebaGone is a simple one: The best way to combat an antagonistic microorganism is with a benign microorganism. In that way, Dicty, a safe, free-living amoeba that consumes pathogenic bacteria, was developed. Now, AmebaGone can address multiple threats to a range of plant species through the long-acting Dicty amoeba.

AmebaGone is preparing for Environmental Protection Agency registration of its first products in the summer of 2019 and will pursue state registrations next, but has not yet begun this process. Company leaders do not anticipate any regulatory issues in this area.

AmebaGone is one of 25 finalists selected in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, which will conclude June 5-6 at Union South on the UW-Madison campus during the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference.

Read more: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.Iml?Article=391187

— The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a win for Epic Systems in a decision that says employees must follow arbitration agreements they’ve signed.

The court’s decision yesterday means employees — either collectively or individually — do not have the right to class action or collective lawsuits relating to their employment if they sign agreements mandating they arbitrate individually.

At issue in the case, which involved Epic Systems and other employers, was whether provisions in the National Labor Relations Act and the Federal Arbitration Act conflict in a manner that would allow some employees covered under arbitration agreements to join class-action lawsuits against their employers. The court found in its 5-4 decision that this was not the case and the two laws cover different territory.

“The policy may be debatable but the law is clear: Congress has instructed that arbitration agreements like those before us must be enforced as written,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in the 5-4 majority opinion.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her dissent wrote the NRLA recognizes “employees’ right to engage in collective employment litigation.”

She wrote the decision will lead to underenforcement of laws to protect vulnerable workers.

In a statement, Epic Founder and CEO Judy Faulkner praised the decision.

“It is important that employers protect an employee’s right to file complaints, while also providing for a fair forum in which those grievances are addressed,” Faulkner said. “When it comes to grievances regarding wages and hours, we believe individual arbitration agreements strike that reasonable balance and are pleased with the court’s decision in support of this.”

Read the decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-285_q8l1.pdf

— The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. James Berbee as board chairman.

Berbee is a clinical assistant professor at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and an emergency physician at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital.

Prior to his career in medicine, Berbee was an IBM systems engineer and then founded Berbee Information Networks Corp.

Berbee and his wife, Karen Walsh, also founded the BerbeeWalsh Foundation, which supports human health and welfare projects.

Berbee replaces Peter Tong, who served as chair since 2014 and continues as a WARF trustee.

See the statement: https://www.warf.org/news-media/news/releases-and-announcements/warf-appoints-dr-james-berbee-board-chairman.cmsx

Correction: AkkeNeel Talsma, the founder of Melius Outcomes, is Walter Schroeder Chair in Nursing Research and associate professor at UW-Milwaukee’s College of Nursing.

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Thursday, May 24: Navigating the New Economy: What can Wisconsin learn from South Carolina’s experience with BMW? Brought to you by UW-Milwaukee.

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