Changes at Beltsville Agricultural Research Center
After more than 50 years of research on insect cell and tissue culture, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Maryland now has no scientist whose primary responsibility is the study and development of insect cell cultures. Dr. Dwight E. Lynn, Research Entomologist in the Insect Biocontrol laboratory is leaving the USDA after 25 years at Beltsville.

BARC came to prominence in the area of insect cells in the 1960s and '70s when Drs. James L. Vaughn and Ronald H. Goodwin were pioneering researchers in the field. Goodwin joined the lab in 1968 and developed cell lines from the corn earworm, cabbage looper, and gypsy moth through the 1970's. His gypsy moth cell lines in particular were the basis of extensive research, since they were the first capable of replicating the nucleopolyhedrovirus from that insect. Goodwin also put considerable effort into developing new cell culture media, with a special focus on developing serum-free formulations. He had a major role in the development of IPL-41 medium that has been the basis of most formulations used in the commercially available serum-free insect cell culture media available today.
Preceding and concurrent with Goodwin's research, Vaughn was also a driving force in the development of cell lines for baculovirus research. His SF-21 fall armyworm cell line (officially designated IPLB-SF21AE) is the parent line that was used for developing the SF-9 cloned line. Both the parent and clone are widely used with the baculovirus expression vector.

While Lynn's departure may mark the end of the development of new insect cell lines at Beltsville, the insect virus program will remain active through the research of Drs. Dawn Gundersen-Rindal (polydnaviruses) and Robert L. Harrison (baculoviruses). Plans are also being considered to create a curator position in the laboratory to manage the insect cell and virus collections.

Lynn will continue research at the laboratory for a few months to complete some ongoing projects, but plans to relocate to Maine sometime in the summer of 2007. He plans to start a consulting firm to advise the biotech and pharmaceutical industries on aspects of insect cell culture related to the baculovirus expression vector system, but also plans to spend much more time outdoors hiking, biking, and kayaking.