October 17, 2000

Each year the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, publishes a prestigious collection of NASA success stories in it’s catalog, Spinoff. This unique publication contains the current years’ most exciting commercial successes that are "Spinoffs" of the products and services that have been developed and commercialized as a direct result of a commercial partnership between NASA and the business community.

The Delavan, Wisconsin based company, American Ag-Tec International, Ltd.’s Quantum Tubers™ fast growth seed potato technology is featured in the annual publication, Spinoff 2000. Ag-Tec’s story, "Space Age Spuds" can be found (pg. 55) in the Environment and Resources Management section which describes commercially available products and services resulting in the transfer of NASA technology.

The Quantum Tubers™ biotechnology for rapid multiplication of pathogen-free nuclear seed stock (called minitubers) for the seed potato industry is a revolutionary technology completely new to the world. Without the need to genetically alter a potato variety, the Quantum Tubers™ technology eliminates from 5 to 7 years of the seed multiplication process and provides exponentially greater quantities high quality seed potato than any production system existing in the world today.

In his introduction to the 2000 Spinoff publication Robert L. Norwood, Director of NASA’s Commercial Technology Division states; "The application of NASA technologies by the private sector increases productivity by contributing to the development of new products and services that meet consumer demands, benefit the national economy, and enhance human health and quality of life . . . Spinoff 2000 is an instrument of the NASA Commercial Technology program and documents the outcome of our spinoff successes."

A hard copy of this publication may be purchased through the NASA Spinoff website at www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spin_order_form.html. 

WCSAR (Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics) is the NASA center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, WI working in cooperation with Ag-Tec. Their website can be found at www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/wcsar.

For more information about the Quantum Tubers™ technology visit their website at www.quantumtubers.com.