Clean Plant Center Upgrades to Virus Diagnostic Lab

What once was the Elisa Lab at Clean Plant Center Northwest has been enhanced and been rechristened the Virus Diagnostic Lab, or VDL.

Dr. Scott Harper, head of the CPC, said with the evolution of PCR testing, they merged the PCR and Elisa lab to form a new diagnostic center.

“As such, we’ve been assigning more staff to it, restructuring of the buildings themselves, renovating and restructuring of the labs so we can have higher throughput and faster turnaround for our customers. We’re also expanding our testing operations.”

The focus will be on the three primary commodities in Washington, fruit trees, grapes and hops, but the testing center can actually handle a wide variety of crops, testing for viruses or virus-like organisms.

The benefits can be huge in helping farmers and the ag industry in Washington according to Harper.

“It’s a way of testing and screening plants so you can remove anything that’s infected rather than waiting for a disease to show up because usually about the time you see symptoms, it’s far too late.”

This will give confidence to producers and nurseries that they are getting virus-free material should they wish to replant, try something new, etc.

For more, visit the CPC’s website.

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