Longmont, Colorado
January 3, 2008

STA Laboratories, Inc. announces the appointment of Dr. Gene Hookstra as General Manager of Genetic Services at its headquarters in Longmont, Colorado. Dr. Hookstra will have business development oversight for STA Laboratories’ molecular marker, trait and hybrid purity services. “We are very excited to have Dr. Hookstra join the STA staff.” says Darrell Maddox, President. “Gene brings over 25 years of applied breeding and molecular marker knowledge to help us build on current genetic services to agriculture and the seed industry. We continue to help our customer’s success by bringing recognized experts, such as Dr. Hookstra, on board.”

Dr. Hookstra received his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Quantitative Genetics from the University of Nebraska in 1982 and worked 11 years in the vegetable seed business as a successful plant breeder, station manager and vice president of research. In 1993, he started working with the Linkage Genetics/Paradigm group providing molecular services to the seed industry and since that time has devoted all of his energies to the successful application of DNA markers in the seed industry. Dr. Hookstra says, “Molecular markers are simply tools which all breeders and seed producers should be familiar and with proper application will help expedite and guarantee success”.

Through the past 15 years Dr. Hookstra has had the opportunity to work with many field and vegetable seed companies in the US and abroad. He has experience in over 22 species, has served as an expert witness in numerous intellectual property disputes and served on the scientific advisory board for RiceCAP. He has also been a guest speaker at a number of seminars including; Illinois Corn Breeders School, UC-Davis Seed Biotechnology Center Breeding with Molecular Markers Course and the Rice Technical Workshop.

STA Laboratories, Inc., founded in 1987, is the only independent provider of a full range of diagnostic services to the seed and plant industries. Featuring three professionally staffed business units, our mission is to help our clients succeed and make confident, informed product decisions by providing accurate and timely testing services with results you can trust.

Website: http://www.seedquest.com/id/s/STALabs.htm

Published: January 3, 2008