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Plant Sciences / Agriculture
With links to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the Missouri Botanical Garden, both located in St. Louis, Washington University biologists and chemists collaborate with researchers in two of the most widely admired plant institutions worldwide. Research in plants from arbabidopsis to cassava has illuminated the plant science world about the workings of genes and the history of plants. Biologists are seeking ways to engineer plants to become more efficient in self-protection. They also are studying genes and biochemical processes in plants such as a process called DNA methylation, a chemical modification in cytosine, one of the four chemical subunits of DNA. Without proper DNA methylation, higher organisms from plants to humans have a host of developmental problems, from dwarfing in plants to tumor development in humans to certain death in mice. The world's first genetically engineered food crop, tomatoes, was developed here in the late 1980s by Roger Beachy, President of the Danforth Center and Professor of Biology at Washington University, with collaborators at Monsanto, Co.
| Faculty Experts: |
Showing Plant Sciences / Agriculture Experts 1 through 5 of 8.
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Gayle J. Fritz
Associate Professor of Archeaology in Arts and Sciences
Expertise: human-plant interrelationship, plant remains, subsistence continuity, agricultural systems, paleoenthnobotany, develpment of agricultural systems, plant domestication, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-8588
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gjfritz@wustl.edu
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Ralph Quatrano
Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., is the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is internationally known for his plant science work on patterns of embryo formation, and how the patterns lead cells to acquire traits or ...
Expertise: Plants, plant biology, botany, moss, genome, algae, genes, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-6850
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rsq@wustl.edu
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Glenn Davis Stone
Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology and Environmental Studies in Arts & Sciences
Stone is an ecological anthropologist who has studied indigenous agricultural systems for the past 20 years. He has written extensively on intensification, labor organization, sexual division of labor, ethnicity and production, spatial organization and especially relationships between population, conflict ...
Expertise: ecological anthropology, political and historical ecology, agricultural biotechnology, settlement patterns, population, ethnoarchaeology, Web-based scholarship, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-5239
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stone@artsci.wustl.edu
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Roy Curtiss
Professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences
Has developed a Salmonella-based oral vaccine for livestock that can free animals from the virulent strain of Salmonella that causes food-poisoning in humans. His vaccine has received FDA approval for swine and poultry and is on the market. Curtiss also has obtained patents for the use of transgenic ...
Expertise: Salmonella, food poisoning, FDA, vaccine, genetic engineering, microbial, pathogen, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-6819
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rcurtiss@wustl.edu
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David Ho
Professor of Biology
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| Ho |
Has discovered a single gene in barley that controls several traits--height, maturity, drought resistance and strength. Moreover, he has genetically engineered a molecular switch that could turn on the process of such a gene. Impacts on agriculture could be immense. American farmers could save more ...
Expertise: plant biology, developmental biology, molecular genetics
Direct contact: (314) 935-4632
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ho@biology.wustl.edu
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Showing Plant Sciences / Agriculture Experts 1 through 5 of 8.
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Plant Sciences / Agriculture Stories 1 through 3 of 39.
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Doing rice right
Traditional Thai hill farmers help preserve genetic diversity of rice
July 27,
2009 --
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| National Science Foundation |
Traditional rice cultivation methods practiced in the isolated hillside farms of Thailand are helping preserve the genetic diversity of rice, one of the world's most important food crops, according to a new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Chiang Mai University in Thailand.
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Living Building Challenge
What could be one of North America's greenest buildings opened May 29
June 2,
2009 --
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| Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo |
| The Living Learning Center |
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An opening ceremony for what could be one of North America's greenest buildings — a flagship building on the cutting edge of sustainable design and energy efficiency — was held May 29 at Washington University in St. Louis' new Living Learning Center at the university's Tyson Research Center. The Living Learning Center is a 2,900-square-foot facility built to meet the Living Building Challenge — designed to be the most stringent green building rating system in the world — of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC). No building has met its standard yet, but the Living Learning Center is in the running to be the first in North America.
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Living Building Challenge
What could be one of North America's greenest buildings set to open May 29
May 28,
2009 --
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| Photos courtesy Dan Hellmuth, Hellmuth Bicknese Architects |
| Tyson's own Eastern Red Cedar used for exterior siding |
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An opening ceremony for what could be one of North America's greenest buildings — a flagship building on the cutting edge of sustainable design and energy efficiency — will take place at 4 p.m. May 29 at Washington University in St. Louis' new Living Learning Center at the university's Tyson Research Center. The Living Learning Center is a 2,900-square-foot facility built to meet the Living Building Challenge — designed to be the most stringent green building rating system in the world — of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC). No building has met its standard yet, but the Living Learning Center is in the running to be the first in North America.
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Showing Plant Sciences / Agriculture Stories 1 through 3 of 39.
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Scientists, doctors unite to fight malnutrition
MSNBC.com
and 27 others
July 29,
2009 -- WUSTL pediatrician Mark Manary, a doctor who has long treated malnourished people, is working with plant scientists trying to improve the nutritional content of food.
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U.S. Colleges Get Serious With Partners Overseas
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Feb. 23,
2009 -- WUSTL chancellor Mark S. Wrighton is trying to establish meaningful relationships with foreign universities, in hopes of engaging large numbers of WUSTL students and faculty members, encouraging robust research collaborations, and cultivating a more global campus.
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Southern Mo. targeted for uranium drilling
Associated Press
and 70 others
Feb. 3,
2009 -- According to one geologist, southeast Missouri could hold one of the biggest deposits of undiscovered uranium in the U.S. Includes comments by WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Bob Criss.
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Study on wildlife corridors shows how they work over time
Eureka! Science News (Canada)
and 3 others
Dec. 2,
2008 -- WUSTL biologists and their collaborators have created budding longleaf pine forest ecosystems with the help of the U.S. Forest Service-Savannah River to understand whether these "corridors" help plants and animals survive habitat fragmentation.
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Betting on a Biofuel
The Wall Street Journal
June 30,
2008 -- With ethanol looking less and less like the ideal alternative to fossil fuels, companies are rushing to come up with better options, such as biobutanol. WUSTL chemical engineering professor Lars Angenent is experimenting with using corn waste from ethanol plants to make butanol.
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Mississippi River Reclaims Floodplain in Parts of Missouri
NPR: All Things Considered
and 1 others
June 24,
2008 -- KWMU's Adam Allington reports on failed levees and flooding in the Midwest and the questions being raised about the efforts to contain the Mississippi River. WUSTL hydrologist Bob Criss says unchecked development on the Mississippi floodplain is a continuing problem.
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Midwest Floods Dredge Up Dispute
The Wall Street Journal
June 19,
2008 -- Since the historic flood of 1993, nearly 30,000 homes have been built on land that was underwater around the Mississippi and Missouri rivers near St. Louis. WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Robert Criss argues that development along the rivers is worsening the effect of floods.
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Republicans tense as voter disillusionment sets in
USA Today
May 20,
2008 -- Iraq is one of several tides running against GOP candidates, driving away independent voters and some party faithful. Except for Missouri, independent voters in five Senate races polled by USA Today were swinging toward the Democrat. Party loyalty was stronger among Democrats than Republicans in every state but Ohio. Michael Minta, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, comments on how the stem cell research issue is dividing Republicans in Missouri.
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New study advances method to make energy from farm waste
Associated Press
and 81 others
April 17,
2008 -- WUSTL engineers, including WUSTL chemical engineering professor Muthanna Al-Dahhan, using imaging technology have found that vigorous mixing helps microorganisms turn farm waste into alternative energy.
The goal is to produce a simple method that farmers can use to treat their waste and generate energy.
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Group says it has mapped corn genome
Associated Press
and 76 others
Feb. 26,
2008 -- Richard Wilson, director of WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center, comments on the successful mapping of the corn genome.
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A few tips to lead a 'greener' lifestyle
DailyIndia.com (FL)
and 3 others
Jan. 14,
2008 -- Matt Malten, WUSTL assistant vice chancellor for campus sustainability, offers a few tips on how to lessen your impact on the environment without spending a lot of bucks. "The old adage of reduce, reuse, recycle remains apropos. We must remind ourselves that the first step is always to reduce our demand of natural resources," Malten said.
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Mimicking plant evolution proves fruitful
MSNBC.com
Jan. 11,
2008 -- By mimicking plant evolution, a team of Illinois researchers has improved upon nature's design to build a leafy energy-producing powerhouse — or at least a virtual one on a supercomputer. In a study published within the journal Plant Physiology, WUSTL biology and chemistry professor Robert Blankenship comments on the Illinois study.
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Drought Can Destroy Diversity
LiveScience.com
Oct. 22,
2007 -- Scientists are more interested than ever in the effects of extreme climate swings, such as prolonged drought, because the computer models predict wilder extremes as one effect of the climate change now underway.
WUSTL biology professor and ecologist Jonathan Chase comments on his study that appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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International university presidents declare energy research crucial
Associated Press
and 3 others
May 8,
2007 -- AP story on a three-day energy and environment conference at WUSTL, hosted by the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.
Thirteen university presidents from around the world urged government agencies and corporations to pour more resources into finding new sources of energy that don't harm the environment, calling it the most pressing problem facing the world today.
WUSTL chancellor Mark Wrighton comments.
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Hopes for a Renaissance After Exodus in St. Louis
The New York Times
and 3 others
April 17,
2007 -- Article looks at St. Louis' effort to rebuild its image in the face of population loss and public school accreditation problems.
WUSTL architecture professor John Hoal, who has been involved in numerous municipal planning projects, comments on the redevelopment effort.
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Professor Says Mo. Should Protect Caves
Associated Press Online, West End Word (St. Louis)
and 44 others
March 8,
2007 -- WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Robert Criss warned that Missouri is losing too many of its caves to development.
Missouri has an international reputation among scientists, caving enthusiasts and tourists.
Criss, WUSTL geologist G.R. Osburn and graduate students Jennifer Lippmann and Everett Criss, Robert Criss' son, studied many of the 127 reported caves in St. Louis County.
Their paper, the Caves of St. Louis County, was recently published in the journal Missouri Speleology. Speleology is the exploration and study of caves.
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Keeping the Fruits of Research Close to Home in St. Louis
The New York Times
Feb. 7,
2007 -- Article on the efforts of WUSTL chancellor emeritus William Danforth and civic leader John Dubinsky to reorient the business climate in St. Louis. St. Louis has great research institutiions like WUSTL, but "we have not done so well with the commercialization of that science."
In 2001, Danforth -- along with a number of other business and civic leaders -- founded the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, a nonprofit group. The goal was to jump-start St. Louis' nascent biotechnology industry by providing both new and mature companies with increased access to financing and up-to-date facilities.
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Genomic "time machine" may pinpoint divergence of human and Neandertal
Scientific American
Nov. 16,
2006 -- Article reports on two research teams who say they have rebuilt, or sequenced, long segments of Neanderthal DNA using the 38,000-year-old remains of a 38-year-old male, found in a Croatian cave.
The technique is not only yielding new insights into Neanderthals, reported in Nature and Science, it's also likely to prove an important tool in teasing out secrets about how plants and animals evolved.
WUSTL anthropologist Erik Trinkaus says he sees problems with how the two teams interpret some of their information.
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Bird extinction pace worries scientists
Kansas City Star
and 19 others
July 5,
2006 -- New research shows that birds are becoming extinct faster than scientists have thought.
A group of scientists that included WUSTL biology professor and conservationist Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, revised the existing extinction estimate to take into account ongoing fossil discoveries of extinct species and missing birds not yet classified as extinct. The results of their study appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Democrats hope to divide G.O.P. over stem cells
The New York Times
and 1 others
April 24,
2006 -- Democrats are pressing their support for embryonic stem cell research in Congressional races around the country, seeking to move back to center stage an issue they believe resonates with voters and to exploit a division between conservatives who oppose the science and other Republicans more open to it.
Former U.S. Senator John Danforth, an Episcopal minister, and his brother, William, WUSTL chancellor emeritus, have taken a prominent role in promoting the amendment.
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