Mary-Dell Chilton
Mary-Dell Chilton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 2, 1939 |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign |
| Known for | Firstgenetically modifiedplants |
| Awards | World Food Prize,National Inventors Hall of Fame |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Syngenta Biotechnology Inc |
| Thesis | Transforming Activity in Single-Stranded DNA from Bacillus subtilis(1967) |
| Doctoral advisor | Benjamin D. Hall |
| Notable students | Michael W. Bevan,Elizabeth E. Hood |
Mary-Dell Chilton(born February 2, 1939, inIndianapolis, Indiana) is one of the founders of modern plantbiotechnology.
Early life and education[edit]
Chilton attended private school for her early education.[1]She earned both a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.[2]She later completed postdoctoral work at theUniversity of Washingtonat Seattle[1]
Career and research[edit]
Chilton taught and performed research atWashington University in St. Louis.[1]While on faculty there in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she led a collaborative research study that produced the first transgenic plants.
Chilton was the first (1977) to demonstrate the presence of a fragment ofAgrobacteriumTi plasmidDNAin the nuclear DNA of crowngalltissue. Her research onAgrobacteriumalso showed that thegenesresponsible for causing disease could be removed from the bacterium without adversely affecting its ability to insert its ownDNAinto plant cells and modify the plant'sgenome.[3]Chilton described what she had done asdisarmingthe bacterialplasmidresponsible for the DNA transfer. She and her collaborators produced the firstgenetically modifiedplants usingAgrobacteriumcarrying the disarmed Ti plasmid (1983). She has been called the "queen ofAgrobacterium."[4]
Chilton is author of more than 100 scientific publications. She is a Distinguished Science Fellow atSyngentaBiotechnology, Inc. She began her corporate career in 1983 withCIBA-GeigyCorporation (a legacy company of Syngenta).
Awards and honors[edit]
For her work withAgrobacterium tumefaciens,she has been recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Louvaine, theJohn Scott Medalfrom the City of Philadelphia, membership in theUnited States National Academy of Sciences,and theBenjamin Franklin Medalin Life Sciences from theFranklin Institute.
She was honored by theCrop Science Society of Americain 2011 with the organization's Presidential Award.[5]
In honor of her many achievements, in 2002 Syngenta announced creation of the Mary-Dell Chilton Center – a new administrative and conference center which was added to the company's facility inResearch Triangle Park,inNorth Carolina.[6]
In June 2013, she was named a laureate of the prestigious 2013World Food Prize.[7][8][9]
In 2015, Chilton was elected to theNational Inventors Hall of Fame.[10]In 2020, she was one of eight women featured in "The Only One in the Room" display at theSmithsonianNational Museum of American History.[11]
Chilton has been recognized as a Pioneer Member of theAmerican Society of Plant Biologists.[12]
TheNational Medal of Technology and Innovationwas awarded to Chilton byPresident Bidenin 2023.[13]
References[edit]
- ^abcStanley, Autumn (1993).Mothers and daughters of invention: notes for a revised history of technology.New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. p.83.ISBN978-0813521978.
- ^Locke, Mandy (28 December 2013)."2013 Tar Heel of the Year: Mary-Dell Chilton is changing the way the world eats".The News & Observer. Archived fromthe originalon February 18, 2014.Retrieved27 June2014.
- ^Chilton, M. D.; Tepfer, D. A.; Petit, A.; David, C.; Casse-Delbart, F.; Tempé, J. (1982). "Agrobacterium rhizogenes inserts T-DNA into the genomes of the host plant root cells".Nature.295(5848): 432.Bibcode:1982Natur.295..432C.doi:10.1038/295432a0.S2CID4354924.
- ^Charles, Daniel (2001).Lords of the harvest: Biotech, big money, and the future of food.Reading, MA: The Perseus Books Group.ISBN9780738202914.
- ^"Crop Science Society of America Announces 2011 Award Recipients".Crop Science Society of America (CSSA).Retrieved28 April2013.
- ^"SBI Founder and Distinguished Scientist: Mary-Dell Chilton PhD".Sygenta US: Biotechnology. Archived fromthe originalon 29 November 2016.Retrieved28 April2013.
- ^(in French)Catherine Morand, "Le prix mondial de l'alimentation à Monsanto et Syngenta? Une farce",www.letemps.ch,16 October 2013 (page visited on 16 October 2013).
- ^Syngenta's Mary-Dell Chilton named 2013 World Food Prize laureate
- ^Pollack, Andrew (19 June 2013)."Executive at Monsanto Wins Global Food Honor".The New York Times.Retrieved27 June2014.
- ^"Mary-Dell Chilton".National Inventors Hall of Fame.Retrieved7 February2015.
- ^"Mary-Dell Chilton".National Museum of American History.2020-05-11.Retrieved2020-07-25.
- ^"ASPB Pioneer Members".
- ^House, The White (2023-10-24)."President Biden Honors Leading American Scientists, Technologists, and Innovators".The White House.Retrieved2023-10-25.
External links[edit]
- 1939 births
- Living people
- People from Indianapolis
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- 20th-century American women scientists
- 20th-century American botanists
- 21st-century American biologists
- Agriculture and food award winners
- 21st-century American women scientists
- Washington University in St. Louis faculty
- University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
- Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates