96 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2017 destructive in that it attempts to take down people who’ve dedicated their lives to understanding that everything is ambiguous until you can prove otherwise. Social media is a cascade of opinion that becomes truth in and of itself.” That makes public education an essen- tial part of the innovation process, he adds. The seed industry must work hard to counter misinformation that prolifer- ates in the online world. Navigating the Battleground That said, as the innovation process proves, new ideas can be found in the most unexpected places. Bill Aimutis, global director of innovation for Cargill, says he often turns to social media and other online spheres to find out what’s new and hot in the technological world. “Social media circles are great for that. What podcasts are people listening to, what TV shows are they watching and does the host of that show mentioned certain technologies? A good example is probiotics. They’ve been around for 35 to 40 years. It wasn’t until they were talked about on a popular U.S. talk show that those trends went from being a fad to a major trend,” he says. It’s also a good way to watch the inno- vation process play out from start to finish — from success to failure and back again. “Drone technology has been used by the military for 15 years, and then people began building their own toy drones. Agriculture finally started to look at drones and what they could build with them. Then you saw 30-40 companies pop up in the drone space. Not all of them were successful — some failed — but it’s because of their popularity in the online world and all those various channels coming together.” The same story is playing out with regard to the high oleic soybean, notes Phil Kerr, president of SERIO Nutrition Solutions in Missouri. Kerr has worked in the life sciences for several decades and is the former senior director of discovery research and development for DuPont. He currently provides consulting services for the food and sector. Kerr says the story of the high oleic soybean is a cautionary tale of how a new and innovative product can encounter obstacles that prevent an otherwise sig- nificant product from getting to market and helping the people it’s meant to. High oleic soybeans produce cooking oil that is very stable and does not require the need for hydrogenation, a process that produces unhealthy trans fat. Kerr notes that the high oleic soybean was ready to begin its commercial life almost two decades ago, but global regulatory hurdles and consumer backlash against GMOs prevented the product from being successful. Only now is the high oleic soybean beginning to see success — two varieties are expected to be introduced commercially in the U.S. in 2018 upon Chinese and European import approval. “It’s one of the primary examples of how an innovative product offering huge consumer benefits has been slowed down dramatically. We have to think more com- prehensively early on in the development of these technologies. There are gaps in knowledge and in the understanding of benefit and risk,” Kerr says. “That’s the lesson we have to learn — what are the implications of the seed we create and ultimately use to nourish production livestock or humans? We’re all living in a world where that transparency has to occur across that entire supply chain.” SW Phil Kerr is former senior director of discovery research and development for DuPont. Bill Aimutis, global director of innovation for Cargill, says he often turns to social media and other online spheres.