Improving Agriculture through RNA

For over a decade, new technologies like RNA silencing have been used to discover and investigate plant traits to improve crops. RNA silencing is a powerful tool within the plant scientist’s toolkit to understand how plants resist pests and diseases, produce valuable products and survive in diverse and changing environments. The technology is already being applied in crop plants to provide resistance against viruses and improved oil composition.  Researchers are now advancing RNA silencing technology to deliver new products that improve yield, and accelerate the ability of farmers to respond to changing growing conditions.

For more information about RNA silencing, view our infographic here.

Dr. Jim Carrington, President of the Danforth Plant Science Center and Dr. Tom Adams, Vice President of Chemistry Technology at Monsanto, will discuss the impact that this science will have on the future of agriculture and the commercial marketplace on August 29, 2013 as the Danforth Center Conversations series continues. Register for Conversations.

About the Speakers

Dr. James C. Carrington, President, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center,
Dr. Carrington has been President of the Danforth Center since 2011. Prior to joining the Center, Carrington served on the faculties at Texas A & M and Washington State universities. Most recently, he was the Director of the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing (CGRB), the Stewart Professor for Gene Research, and Distinguished Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University. Internationally recognized for his research on gene silencing, the functions of small RNA, and virus-host interactions, Carrington’s work in the small RNA field has focused on mechanisms through which plants and other organisms use non-coding RNA to control growth and development and to defend against viruses.  In 2008, Carrington was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Science, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Phytopathological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His awards include the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation, the Ruth Allen Award from the American Society for Phytopathology, and the Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.  Carrington earned his bachelor’s degree in plant sciences at the University of California, Riverside. And later, he received his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Tom H. Adams, Vice President of Chemistry Technology, Monsanto,
Dr. Adams has been the Vice President of Chemistry Technology since 2009 where he has lead the expansion of Monsanto’s Acceleron® seed treatment platform, growth of herbicide solutions including Warrant early PRE in cotton and soy markets, technical innovations to continue to reduce COGs in Roundup® as well developing novel approaches to weed resistance management. Following postdoctoral research in fungal genetics at the University of Georgia, Adams joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University where he established an independent research program investigating genetic controls of fungal development and mycotoxin production.  Later, Adams became involved in the startup of Monsanto’s Cereon Genomics facility, joining Monsanto full-time in 1998 as Discovery Director at Cereon.  After holding various positions with Monsanto, in Adams moved to lead Strategy, Operations, and Prospecting for Biotechnology before moving to lead the Chemistry Organization. Tom received his bachelor’s degree in botany and plant pathology in 1981 from Oregon State University and his Ph.D. in microbiology in 1986 from Michigan State University where he studied control of nitrogen fixation during the Bradyrhizobium/soybean symbiotic interaction.

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