Hey everyone,
I’m currently in the process of creating a Tissue Culture Lab and want to put a feeler out to see if anyone would be interested in having some of their genetics stored and what people would be willing to pay. I know some labs are charging $1200 per strain/year which I think is crazy, so I’d like to maybe everyone out and reduce that cost but also be able to store some amazing genetics.
Let me know what you guys think!
I store genetics in seed form 
Me too, it breaks my heart when I lose that one mama and can never get it back. Trying to see if anyone else goes down that sad path haha
I think that you’re going to have a hard time getting people to pay for artificial seeds and genetic storage as a new TC provider. If I were in the market for that, I’d be looking for someone with an established reputation before I handed them rare genetics to preserve, both to know that they could do the job and were worth the money, and also to have some faith that my special strain wouldn’t be passed around out the back door. Nothing personal at all, but I think you’re going to have to establish yourself with some TC services to build that kind of trust with clients before they’re willing to pay for genetic storage.
You’re absolutely right, the storing without using the strains is an issue for sure and would be needed to be done through a contract to reserve the rights of said person. It’s by no means a big operation just something on the side to preserve my own genetics which I have experience doing at a legal producer in Canada alreadym and figured I’d offer up the services if people were interested
As someone who can do TC there’s minimal for a hobbyist to actually pay for. Take nodes, input in container with substrate, and place under light. If you’re storing long term eventually you have to transplant to larger containers but once you’re ready to actually grow them it’s like rooting a cutting. It takes no special conditions other than a fluoro to keep them growing. So I would pay you to jar my cutting and return it to me but even this is sketchy since it can take up to 2 weeks for mold and bacteria to start growing which kills the sample. The only specialty part of TC is getting lab grade materials for the substrate. I sourced mine through a professor in WA who distributed them through the college they worked at.
I’d be willing to pay $200 given it is a several hour process start to finish but also considering you would do batches at a time it’s not as labor intensive as it sounds and you could do a hundred samples in that time.
I still have a copy of the protocol I have used, if anyone wants to see it let me know I can post photos to work off of.
Also a side note, I promise any OGer can do TC if you have the ability to follow instructions and can be CLEAN. The only hard part of TC is being clean but it’s not that crazy if you use the right cleaners and follow the protocol.
See that’s cool, if someone told me they had worked in an LP lab and was setting up their own that would make me more confident in their services for sure.
I hear you for sure, it’s mainly to see if anyone sees any value on having their genetics stored and come back to. I’m strictly doing it for my own pheno hunts so I don’t have to pay for a large mother room and the labor that would have to go into it. Price isn’t something too crazy that I’m stuck on, just seeing the value that might come from it. I appreciate your feedback though it’s all great information
And would absolutely being trialing things out myself before even offering anything to people. I would need to be completely confident before promising anything to anyone!
So a Genetics business idea outside of TC. I think someone out there should start selling pollen. Seed making is becoming the new hobby but hard to store males for some or store all the males they need. If there were reliable people selling stable male pollen, I’d pay a lot for that.
Iirc 7east sells pollen from time to time based on availability/stock
I’ve gotten pollen from 7 east genetics and it was pretty good
Never seen that before I’ll have to check it out. Thanks!
Thanks for tagging me. I think TC is a great idea. I have had some luck saving and storing pollen, both from males and reversed females. If I ever get the time, I think I would try TC and I certainly love having a stash of pollen from good strains. I have always struggled with preserving a great male. TC would seem to be a possible solution.
You can store 3 cuts in a container the size of a standard baby food jar and 2 t5s can keep a whole tray going. It’s a great option if you have the resources to do it.
Agreed. Cost effect for artificial seed won’t be popular.
Maybe at first.
But that’s a bug wall to be knocked down brotha.
Hi @Naptown916,
I’d certainly like to have a copy of your protocol. I’m currently cloning, reversing and collecting pollen successfully, but the processes are slow and storing pollen for any length of time is tricky.
How about dropping your protocol here for us to share?
-Grouchy
I don’t wanna just post it because technically it’s a university publication, I don’t know if I can just openly share it, but let me get it scanned today and I’ll message it over to you. Anyone else that’s interested just let me know.
there are “kits” one can get for tissue culture - tissue culture has been around for some years - another way to preserve true genetics line