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IRRI ARCHIVEIN 1990, Dr. McCouch and laboratory technician Marifa Lanuang Corral useliquid nitrogen to harvest tissue from IRRI field plot–grown rice plants forDNA extraction.just started in 1985. Ray Wu [thelate Cornell professor of molecularbiology and genetics, who was widelyrecognized as one of the fathers ofplant genetic engineering], RonnieCoffman [IRRI plant breeder, 1971-81 and currently director of Cornell’sInternational Programs], and Cornellplant breeder Steve Tanksley hadput forward a proposal to do somemolecular biology on rice that wouldinvolve developing, in those days, anRFLP [restriction fragment lengthpolymorphism] map. So, as I entered thedepartment and considered the variousopportunities that presented themselvesas PhD projects, this was the one thatstood out in my mind. Initially, I wastold that I didn’t have the qualificationsto take on that project. But I slowlyworked my way into it and, after the firstyear, was selected for a fellowship underthat program. So, my PhD programwas largely funded by the RockefellerFoundation.Great teamwork—developing thefirst molecular map of riceI became a full-fledged graduate studentin 1986. During that time, I worked veryclosely with two Chinese colleagues[Z.H. Yu and Z.Y. Wang] who werealso Rockefeller-funded scholars. Ourthreesome—the two scholars andI—put together that first RFLP mapof rice, which was published in 1988[Theoretical and Applied Genetics:Molecular mapping of rice chromosomes,76:815-829]. It was a great achievementderived from teamwork. We learned alot from Steve Tanksley,a tomato geneticist,who was making hisfirst foray into cereals,specifically rice. TheRFLP technology, asthose who worked withit know, is cumbersomeand very tedious. Itinvolved a lot of workusing radiation andalmost a 24-hour routinein the lab. We workedday and night to developthis map, and it was agreat accomplishmentin its day—135 markersacross rice’s 12 chromosomes. Anyway,it was the first molecular map of rice,very historic, and we were very excited.I made my first trip to IRRI topresent the results of that work in 1988. Iremember being stunned by the numberof researchers at IRRI in so manydiverse fields, all of them concentratedon rice. I was excited by it all. I thinkpeople were equally excited by the workwe were doing at Cornell. There was avery good synergy and I think that firstvisit cemented a relationship that wouldevolve into a job opportunity at IRRIwhen I finished my PhD.The IRRI experienceIn 1990, when I received my PhD fromCornell, I had just given birth to mysecond child, Andre. When he wasabout 8 weeks old, the family moved tothe Philippines so that I could take up aposition as an internationally recruitedgeneticist at IRRI. My first task wasto set up a molecular breeding lab—ahistoric first.We were on the cutting edge ofthe technology based on what we haddeveloped at Cornell, and we were goingto try to implement it at IRRI, puttingthe molecular markers into action inthe context of plant breeding—and inthe context of rice improvement for thedeveloping world. For me, it fulfilled mydream of combining science—and theexcitement of the new kind of sciencethat was just emerging at the time—withthe frontier of developing new varietiesof rice. We aimed to encourage betteruse of the natural resources that wereavailable to people. Of course, theother underlying theme was: could weuse genetics to minimize the amountof pesticide use and improve fertilizerefficiency? Today, we’re very interestedin water-use efficiency as well.Creating excitement overcomesresistance. All of this came togetherin this wonderful career opportunity. Ithink that my family really appreciatedwhat it meant to me, after 4 years inthe PhD program, to have the chance togo to IRRI and try to integrate the newgenetic tools into the breeding processthere—it was something that requiredas much interpersonal and politicalwill as scientific expertise. During theearly days, there was a fair amountof resistance to spending time andmoney on using molecular markers todo something that the breeders thoughtthey already did very well. There wasa time when the new technology wasboth embraced and resisted, and a littlebit resented. I was right at that edge.So, I did my best to try to introduce thetechnology in ways that would allowothers to share the excitement of whatI believed was possible when thesemarkers were used to identify genescontrolling the traits that breedersselected for.And so, for the last 20 years, thatis what I have spent my life doing.We’ve continued to use a participatoryapproach. I’ve tried to bring people fromdiverse backgrounds into the processand share the excitement of what sciencehas meant to me. At the same time,I’ve tried to learn from others wherethe most pressing problems lie and toaddress those problems using germplasmand natural variation that is of mostinterest to them. This has always been acombined effort to show others what waspossible and to use genetics wisely forplant improvement.Greatest achievement: GenomeMapping Laboratory. I think mygreatest achievement at IRRI wasdeveloping that first marker lab—I thinkit’s still called the Genome MappingLaboratory [now referred to as theMolecular Breeding Laboratory]. Thisprogram has been modified and enlargedand now occupies a central place inthe breeding program. Just thinkingback to what it meant to pioneer such aprogram, I remember the very first look38Rice Today April-June 2010
VIEW FROM the windows installed in theremodeled Genome Mapping Laboratory in1990. The electrophoresis units in front areindicative of the age of RFLP technology.MCCOUCH ARCHIVE (2)THE FAMILY—Andre, Susan, Amanda, andPaul—lived in off-campus housing in 1990-91because they wanted to get more involved withthe local Filipino community.I had at what the space would be—therewere no windows; it was just a brickbuilding with a garage underneath. Isaid: “I think the first thing we need todo is to put in windows so we can lookout on the rice paddies and the beautifulvolcanic mountains in the background.”Indeed, we insisted on that. I still walkinto that laboratory and remember thedecision to put in the windows thatwas part of designing the facility. Tosee it functioning and working todayand booting out good science and goodproducts is probably the greatest reward.Greatest frustration: no work forspouse. The hardest thing for me wasthat my spouse was unable to acquirea work visa. In 1990, spouses couldnot get work visas. [Even today in thePhilippines, a work permit for a spouse isnot automatically given upon applicationand depends on what kind of work thepermit is being requested for.] Paul hada veterinary practice in New York andhe had expected to be able to work inthe Philippines. He was paying back hisstudent loans and foregoing a normalsalary line. He had a skill set that wouldhave been useful. I think the greatestfrustration was that he couldn’t workand he found it very difficult to developmeaningful professional relationships.That is why the family moved into a“shuttle” research relationship during thelast 3 years of my 5-year contract, that is,I traveled back and forth between NewYork and the Philippines.Mistaken identity: all Caucasianwomen look alike. There were just twofemale internationally recruited staffmembers at that time at IRRI. It wasrare to be female in the scientific arenaand my colleague Rebecca Nelson [IRRImolecular plant pathologist, 1989-96]and I were the two females. Other thanthe fact that we both are Caucasians, wereally didn’t look alike. She has darkbrown eyes; I have blue eyes; she hasvery curly hair; I have very long straighthair; and during one year she waspregnant. So, about the time she was 9months’ pregnant, walking around witha big belly and her curly hair and browneyes, and me with my long, straight hair,and no belly, I can remember that manypeople would see me passing and say,“Hi, Rebecca,” and they’d see her passingand say, “Hi, Susan,” because, I think,to them we looked very much the same.We laugh about that even today. Peoplestill ask me, when I visit IRRI, how is myhusband, Johnny? Of course, Johnny isRebecca’s husband and Paul is mine—they still confuse us! That is somethingwe always found very humorous.National staff make IRRI tick. Ithink the national staff are what reallymake IRRI tick. When I first went toIRRI, my learning curve about Asia,about rice, and about many of the thingsthat I now do professionally started withthe knowledge that was transmitted to meby the national staff.Cultivating a loyal “extended” familyI was at IRRI for a relatively shorttime—really just under 2 years with myfamily, although I’ve spent many weeksand months there since that time. I thinkit was really the foundation of my career.It allowed me to join that “extended”family that IRRI has created over its 50years and to be a participant both fromwithin and from without.A great joy has been the interactionwith the Filipino staff and the peoplewhom I trained and the manyinternational scholars who came to mylab or whom I’ve known through mycollaborations over the many years.Training people enables one to keepextending the sense of family. Peoplego back to their countries where theycontinue to work and interact in theinternational arena. Having participatedin an emerging program when molecularbreeding technology was just comingon-line really solidified a kind of familybonding that we still enjoy today.Overall, I believe that this extendedfamily is very loyal to the vision andto the ideal that IRRI represents. So,even if I feel that we need to reinventourselves and to reinvent many of ourinternational organizations, I thinkwe all keep somewhere deep withinus the vision of what the organizationrepresents, even as it evolves andbecomes something new.Go to www.irri.org/publications/today/McCouch.asp for the full transcriptand video clips of Dr. McCouch’sinterview, in which she also refl ectson the challenges of being a female inscientifi c research; the creation of IRRI’snew training course, Rice: research toproduction; IRRI challenges in 2010 andbeyond; and what the future holds, in herview, for packaging better rice varietiesfor the world’s production systems.Rice Today April-June 201039
Page 1 and 2: www.irri.orgWELCOME ALUMNIIRRI Home
Page 3 and 4: contentsEDITORIAL .................
Page 5 and 6: Hidden Treasure*The Chinese New Yea
Page 7 and 8: NEWS http://ricenews.irri.org 7and
Page 9 and 10: PEOPLETR AINING COURSES AT IRRIIntr
Page 11 and 12: Bearish? Where is the economy going
Page 13 and 14: ainRICEGROWERS' ASSOCIATION OF AUST
Page 15 and 16: COLEAMBALLY RICE farmer Lynne Stuck
Page 20 and 21: RACHELLE WARD, a Yanco cereal chemi
Page 22 and 23: JOHN LACY, industry leader (rice fa
Page 24 and 25: Isagani Serrano24 Rice Today April-
Page 26 and 27: Mayon volcanoMAYON REVISITED:Courag
Page 28 and 29: Ketsana, which struck on 26 Septemb
Page 30 and 31: MAPSMapping genebank colThe genetic
Page 32 and 33: R. RAMANTODAY, INDIGENOUS African r
Page 34 and 35: Made for theTROPICSCHRIS QUINTANA (
Page 36 and 37: Operation20/20:Theclearpathtoasusta
Page 40 and 41: IRRI welcomesits alumni to a homeco
Page 42 and 43: COUNTRY HIGHLIGHT:IRRI in ThailandC
Page 44 and 45: RICE FACTSGlobal rice crisis hurts
Page 46 and 47: grain of truthLearning lessons from
Page 48: 8-12 November 2010Vietnam National

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