Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ:SIAL) and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announce a formal agreement to expand research collaboration through the Danforth Center’s Corporate Affiliates Program. Sigma will contribute funding for the scientific work being performed by plant scientists at the Danforth Center to develop new plant biotechnology research tools. As with the other Corporate Affiliate members, Sigma will have advance review of the Danforth Center’s research activities and inventions and intellectual property disclosures.

“We are pleased that Sigma-Aldrich has joined our Corporate Affiliates Program and appreciate their financial commitment to support Danforth Center research activities,” announced Roger N. Beachy, President, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. “In our role of facilitating alliances with institutions of education, business, and government, agreements like this create a conduit for collaboration which allows our Corporate Affiliates insight into the latest advances in plant science research and enhances our own research endeavors.”

“Sigma’s partnership with the Danforth Center, solidified through the Corporate Affiliates program, expresses our endorsement of the vision for a better world through advances in plant biotechnology, “ said Shaf Yousaf, Sigma’s Vice President of R&D. “Sharing of knowledge and the interactions between the Danforth Center and Sigma scientists will prove beneficial for both organizations. This valuable partnership provides the forum for Sigma’s access to plant technologies coming from the most prestigious plant scientists in the world. Early access to these technologies will contribute to Sigma’s development of critical research tools for the plant scientist. These tools will assist scientists in their understanding of plant biology and enable them to perform important plant research.”

As the number one supplier of products for plant research, Sigma has extended its leadership into plant genomics, protein expression and proteomics, and plant cell signaling.

Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. The company’s biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and chemical manufacturing. Its customers are life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and in industry. Over one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 34 countries and has 6,000 employees providing excellent service worldwide. The company’s committed to the success of its Customers, Employees and Shareholders through leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service.

Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a global vision to improve the human condition. Research at the Danforth Center will enhance the nutritional content of plants to improve human health, increase agricultural production to create a sustainable food supply, and build scientific capacity to generate economic growth in the St. Louis region and throughout Missouri. 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.