Between Breakthroughs and Breakdowns: Research at Kelpinor (20.12.2024)

From Failure to Findings

Here’s the harsh reality of research (especially in biology): it’s mostly failures with the rarest of “Well, that’s interesting.” Our latest hydroponics high-light stress experiment was a prime example – algae took over the water, the live camera decided to quit halfway through, and almost a month of effort went literally down the drain.

This is nothing new in research life at Kelpinor. We fail consistently—but hey, we’re nothing if not consistent! Keeping a straight face while crying on the inside is, as history dictates, essential for scientific progress. As The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper once said: “You know, in science, there’s no such thing as failure—only data.” Sure, that data may come from a disastrously algae-infested tank, but it’s still something!

Even though this round didn’t go as planned, we found a thin silver lining—the kind unsuccessful philosophers (a.k.a. TikTokers) always preach about. While scrubbing tanks and questioning life choices, we noticed that the cress plants in the test group (treated with our biostimulants made from Alaria esculenta) had larger leaves and denser roots than the negative controls. Individual wet weight estimations confirmed that the treated plants were significantly better than the untreated ones. This led us to hypothesize that our product might enhance water and nutrient uptake under stress.

Before the Chaos

Prior to this algae-filled mess, we successfully completed our final drought experiment round in November. As always, it came with the usual grind—controlling contamination, collecting data, fixing leaks, arguing over protocols, and enduring all the other headaches that biological research entails. But in the end, we got solid results.

This experiment proved the efficacy of our products in improving the growth of stressed plants. We relied on phenotypic measurements, predominantly leaf area, which we processed using a machine-learning model integrated with an ImageJ macro. This automated setup allowed us to measure leaf area across hundreds of plants daily. The data then flowed into a Python-based pipeline for cleaning, exploratory analysis, and hypothesis testing.

The results showed that foliar treatment with specific concentrations of ANS (Ascophyllum nodosum suspension) significantly improved leaf and stem growth compared to untreated plants. Additionally, the average growth was even better than that of a chemically extracted competitor product.

Looking Ahead

Though we’re still working to standardize lab conditions, scale up replicates, and eliminate contamination issues, we’ve made significant strides. Our next steps include soil-based experiments with more plant species to further validate our findings and explore the full potential of our products.

So, here’s to more hypotheses and nagging questions, more blunders and failures, more silver linings and hope—and, most importantly, more progress.

- Arshad