Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
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Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center aims to feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science.
The Danforth Center is the product of a unique and innovative alliance joining the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Monsanto Company, Purdue University, and Washington University in St. Louis.
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[edit] Vision
"We saw grand opportunities to help feed the hungry, to protect the world’s environment for our grandchildren and their grandchildren, to provide discoveries to spark the next generation of science-based industry, and to make our region a world center for plant science," -Dr. William "Bill" H. Danforth, Chairman, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
[edit] Work
The Danforth Center’s research is collaborative and multidisciplinary. Attempts to incorporate multiple skills and points of view are brought to bear on every project. The Center tries to bring together world-class scientists whose research sheds light on important challenges facing humankind. They are developing a deep understanding of plants as living systems so as to provide knowledge that will lead to practical benefits. The founders made a gift that paves the way for St. Louis to improve the human condition throughout the world for future generations.
[edit] Creating Collaborations that Help Us Achieve Success
Danforth Center scientists collaborate with scientists around the world, including those in research universities, private and public research institutes in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States, and the private sector. The Danforth Center is an ideal work environment for collaborative science due to world-class resources and colleagues, state-of-the-art plant growth facilities, state-of-the-art instruments for studies of cellular and molecular biology of plants.
[edit] Measures of Progress: World-recognized Leadership
Dr. Roger N. Beachy, President of the Danforth Center, is recognized as a leader in plant biology and virology, and implements his research for practical applications. As a professor at Washington University during the 1980s, his research team produced virus resistant crops through biotechnology. Scientists in many countries have used his method to enhance the production of papaya, squash, potatoes, and other crops. Beachy has a driving interest to find ways to apply biotechnology to increase food production and food quality while reducing the use of water and agricultural chemicals.
[edit] American Farmers Benefit from Plant Science
Many of today’s disease resistant crops were developed by St. Louis scientists. These advances have allowed U.S. farmers to increase yields while reducing expenses and use of chemicals. Six biotech crops planted in the U.S. – soybeans, corn, cotton, papaya, squash, and canola: Produced an additional 4 billion pounds (2 million tonnes) of food and fiber on the same area, Improved farm income by $1.5 billion, Reduced pesticide use by 46 million pounds (21,000 tonnes), National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP), June 2002.
