UCLA expert on genetically modified plants will deliver public lecture March 21

UCLA plant molecular biologist Robert B. Goldberg, a world-renowned expert on genetically modified plants, will visit NIU this week to deliver a public lecture titled, "Super Plants for the 21st Century."

The lecture will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in the Montgomery Hall Auditorium. During the lecture, Goldberg will introduce his new film on super plants, which he expects to air next fall on Discovery Channel.

Earlier in the day, Goldberg will hold a professional seminar titled, "Using Genomics to Uncover Genes that Control Plant Embryo Development." The seminar will begin at 11 a.m. in room 443 of Montgomery Hall and is geared for faculty, graduate students and advanced undergraduates in biology or chemistry.

The subject of a feature story in the Los Angeles Times in September, Goldberg has won many awards for his research on gene expression in plants. In May of 2001, he was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.

At the time of his election, Goldberg said, "We're in a new era where genetic engineering opens the possibility to use plants as factories of novel chemicals, and this will change the economics of agriculture. When people look back 1,000 years from now, they will say that this was the beginning of directing our biological destiny.

"We are already able to design plants containing better nutrients for human consumption, plants that are insect-resistant, or that are resistant to environment-friendly herbicides," he added. "In the future we will be able to move genes from exotic plants or from other organisms into crop plants, engineer plants as factories for vaccines or pharmaceuticals, and increase a plant's photosynthetic efficiency. We may even be able to do away with fossil fuels, and use plant derivatives as the source of fuel for cars."

Monsanto Corporation and NIU's Graduate School, Department of Biological Sciences and Plant Molecular Biology Center are sponsoring Goldberg's visit.