The Biotechnology Mentorship

According to Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service, there has been a drastic decline in Hawaii's taro production since the 1990s due to plant disease. Currently, there is a high business, scientific, and cultural demand in Hawaii to find solutions for this taro shortage. The Ka Hana No‘eau Biotechnology Mentorship group has recognized this need in the community and is currently making a great effort to alleviate this agricultural strain. By mastering the successful techniques of plant tissue culturing, the Biotechnology Mentorship group can make a powerful impact on the taro industry.

Though this particular endeavor to culture taro is a challenging task, the students realize the importance of their labor and have embraced their exposure to the scientific world. When observing their new confidences in the laboratory, I am humbled to see each student's appreciation for scientific investigation and technology outside of the classroom. The students have taken ownership of their newly acquired laboratory skills and are genuinely determined to find success in culturing bacteria- free taro. Though this mentorship group is comprised of different and eccentric individuals, they are unified in purpose and kuleana: to further and preserve the Hawaiian way of life.

Biotech is my mentorship group. We learned how to make pathogen-free plants. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I wake up at 5:00 am to get ready for mentorship. The last thing we did was ex-planting taro in the lab. I learned how to work an autoclave, to convert and measure things by mL or grams (using the balance), and how to look in a microscope.
— Keola Manantan

In this program, I've learned that cleanliness is close to godliness. The reason I say this is because the cleaner we are, the more our chances increase of creating a pathogen free plant. I have come to appreciate the work we endure in this program because I've learned that through our hard work, we can help the produce a product that's not only clean to begin with, but will also be immune to any viral infection. The plant that we are working on now is the famous taro; its Hawaiian name is kalo. It is known to be very difficult to culture successfully. We have had a few non-infected cultures but have yet to see some growth progress. My thoughts on this program would be all but negative. I really enjoy working with our mentor, Ms. Bunyi. She keeps us interested in our work yet makes sure we're not bored. I've yet to experience a boring day with her.
— Bryson Arquitoal-Takiue

I noticed that Bryson has become more responsible with his mentorship group. He shows up regularly for lab work, even if it means getting up earlier on a school day to attend at 6:00 a.m.

I really thing Bryson enjoys being a paart of his tissue culturing group. He has had some experience in it a couple of years ago, so it's not too unfamiliar to him. He also gets involved with some of the other mentorship groups and helps them out when he can. I feel that all of the mentorship programs are very unique.

he has been to experience what it's like to work with the other students in the other groups and gain a lot of knowledge in those areas too. Each one of the programs is basically a hands on experience. All the students participate by learning many different aspects of whatever group they are in. It gives them experience, knowledge, guidance, confidence, decision making skills, business planning skills, and budget planning skills. All of this is so practical because they can utilize what they have learned in their daily lives and future endeavors.
— Nita Arquitola-Kanoa, parent

Before I barely even know what Biology was (I'm taking Physical Science, not Biology.) or how we could use technology to do what we're doing. I've learned how to use new kinds of technology, such as an autoclave and transfer hoods. I've learned that it's very important to make sure everything (including equipment, supplies, and ourselves) is kept clean and sterilized.

Our goal for this Biotech group is for us to create completely sterile environments for taro plants. So far, we have gotten about halfway there because of our mistakes, etc., but have succeeded in getting the steps for keeping everything clean, for making the media (that the plants go in), and for transferring the media to test tubes and putting the plant in the media.

I like being in this group because it keeps me busy and because I'm learning at the same time. I like learning about plants and technology, and about both of them together. I don't think there's anything I dislike.
— Terah Tagaca

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