Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

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 was created out of 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.

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.

Work

The Danforth Center’s research attempts to incorporate multiple skills and points of view to develop a deep understanding of plants as living systems so as to provide knowledge that will lead to practical benefits. The founders made a gift in an attempt to pave the way for St. Louis to improve the human condition throughout the world for future generations.

The Benefit of Plant Science

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, and reduced pesticide use by 46 million pounds (21,000 tonnes) according to the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) in June 2002.

External links

• Official website