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St. Louis, Missouri
November 2, 2001
Research Team Poised to Address
Pressing Global Challenges
The Donald Danforth Plant
Science Center officially
opened its doors today at a building dedication event drawing
more than 600 business, civic and academic leaders. The event
featured several
distinguished speakers, including Missouri Governor Bob Holden,
U.S. Senator for Missouri Christopher S. “Kit” Bond, U.S.
Congressman Todd Akin, and Danforth Center president Dr. Roger
Beachy.
“Today we dedicate a world-class research facility, already the
home of outstanding scientists,” said Dr. William H. Danforth,
chairman of the board of trustees, Donald Danforth Plant Science
Center. “The discoveries of these scientists will help our world
feed its people, while contributing to human health, social
stability and protection of the environment. In addition,
products resulting from their discoveries should contribute to
the economic strength of our community. Our goal is to serve the
world while benefiting the St. Louis community.”
The independent, not-for-profit Danforth Center is the product
of a unique and innovative partnership joining the Missouri
Botanical Garden, Monsanto Company, Purdue University, the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of
Missouri-Columbia, and Washington University in St. Louis.
Led by world-renowned plant scientist and founding president Dr.
Roger N. Beachy, the mission of the Danforth Center is
four-fold: to increase understanding of basic plant biology;
apply new knowledge for the benefit of human nutrition and
health and to improve the sustainability of agriculture
worldwide; facilitate the rapid development and
commercialization of promising technologies and products; and
contribute to the education and training of graduate and
postdoctoral students, scientists and technicians from around
the world.
The Danforth Center has recruited an extraordinary group of
scientific leaders to serve as its “principal investigators”.
These 11 individuals and their laboratory teams bring a
collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to their work, as well
as scientific expertise spanning a variety of topics, including
genetics, chemistry, cell biology, biochemistry, root biology,
computational genomics, structural biology - - and the practical
applications thereof.
The $75 million Danforth Center will ultimately house 17
principal investigators and more than 200 scientists,
technicians, post-doctoral researchers and graduate students,
making it one of the world’s largest and most advanced research
facilities devoted to basic plant science research.
“The Danforth Center’s research initiatives and global outreach
efforts, coupled with our interactions with partner institutions
and other collaborators, will unite experts in the plant,
agricultural and medical sciences, shortening the path to
discoveries that will help the world to better meet the food,
health and environmental needs of the 21st century,” said Dr.
Beachy. “To have been given
the opportunity to recruit and lead this strong team at an
institution with a mission as profoundly important and timely as
ours is an honor and a privilege. I look forward with great
anticipation to what my colleagues and I will accomplish as we
work together to address the critical challenges that lie before
us.”
Initial plans for the Danforth Center were announced at a July
1998 ceremony in St. Louis featuring a keynote address by former
U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Founding financial support for the
Danforth Center was provided by the St. Louis-based Danforth
Foundation, which contributed $60 million; the Monsanto Fund,
which contributed $50 million; and the Missouri Development
Finance
Board, which provided $25 million in development tax credits.
Monsanto Company donated 40 acres of land, valued at $11.4
million, on which the Danforth Center sits. In addition, the
Southwestern Bell Foundation provided a $1.9 million grant in
May 2001 for the auditorium complex in the Danforth Center’s
facility.
The opening of the Danforth Center will strengthen the St. Louis
region as the “BioBelt” - - a world-class center for plant and
life sciences research, investment and business opportunity.
Building Specifications
The Danforth Center’s state-of-the art, architecturally-unique
facility was designed by the internationally recognized
London-based firm of Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners in association
with St. Louis-based Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), Inc.
McCarthy Building Companies Inc., of St. Louis served as
construction manager for the 150,000 square foot facility and
Landmark Contract Management of St. Louis served as project
manager.
The facility, which features the use of construction materials
from around the world, includes 15 laboratory suites, 32
individual environmentally-controlled plant growth chambers, 19
custom-designed growth rooms and a 12,000 square foot greenhouse
complex. The building also includes core support facilities for
proteomics, mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, x-ray
crystallography and plant cell culture and transformation.
Company news release
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