About the Invention

Shellfish, like shrimp, mussels and clams, can sometimes contain toxins (poisons) that can make the person eating them extremely ill. Food producers need to be able to quickly assess whether the shellfish are safe.

Since 1995, Joanne Fraser Jellett has been involved in the commercialization of a user-friendly diagnostic kit for paralytic shellfish poison, and the development of similar kinds for other types of biotoxins. Joanne is the President and CEO of Jellett Biotek Ltd. Dr. Jellett's diagnostic kit works rapidly to give government testers and food processors the answers they need.

Some of her biggest customers are in South East Asia and South America. Prior to the development of this innovative kit, testing shellfish for toxicity was a time-consuming process and required the use of animals, which died as a result of testing. Dr. Jellett felt this was unethical, and set-out to create the inexpensive, quick to use, chemical analysis based kit. Further improvements to the diagnostic kit are being developed, and world-wide markets are being explored.

About the Inventor

When Joanne Fraser Jellett was a young girl, her aunt (who was a chemist) showed her how to dissect bugs and how to make stink bombs. This stimulated her interest in science and she went on to study biology at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1976 and worked as a microbiologist for a number of years before continuing her graduate studies and completing a Ph.D. in 1988.

She has worked at the University of Calgary, The Bedford Institute of Oceanography and the University of Glasgow. Joanne is the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and scholarships. Her research studies have been published extensively and she has been interviewed often.

Born in Montreal, Joanne now lives in Nova Scotia. Since 1995, she has operated her own company called Jellett Biotek Ltd. She finds her role as head of the company to be both "time consuming and most rewarding." In 1997, Joanne was nominated for the Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year Award.