Research Centers

To meet the challenges of the next century for environmentally friendly production of adequate food to feed the world's growing population and to provide renewable sources of fuels and industrial materials, it will be necessary to have a more detailed understanding of the organization and function of the genetic material of crops. Moreover, the genes that control functions leading to plant growth and development must be identified. The Center for Plant Genomics is conducting biological research and training at the frontiers of genomics and is developing advanced technologies for this work. Research objectives include "prospecting" for useful plant genes that can be transferred to crops, giving improved performance and identifying and characterizing those crop genes that in effect control significant biological processes and agronomic performance. An additional objective is to determine the origin and nature of the genetic diversity upon which traditional crop breeding depends.

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Molecular geneticists are witnessing a revolution in the way they do business, a revolution in which new technologies allow them to gather massive amounts of genetic data on thousands of individual plants. The challenge is for scientists to access, manipulate and, most of all, interpret the rapidly accumulating mountain of data. The Laurence H. Baker Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics addresses this challenge by developing advanced methods, algorithms and programs for acquiring the data in an orderly fashion, analyzing it and providing the analysis back to plant scientists all over the world for further interpretation and use in their studies. The center complements other centers in the institute and is critical to their ability to carry out field and laboratory research.

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The benefits promised by transgenic plants include reduced use of herbicides and pesticides; improved food safety by reducing natural toxins in plants; and the potential to develop crops designed for a specific function, such as producing pharmaceuticals, plastics, oils and other useful products. These uses for plants have the potential to diversify agriculture and boost the agricultural economy. The missions of the Center for Plant Transformation are: (1) to develop more efficient methods for producing transgenic plants that will be safe for human health and the environment; and (2) to develop gene expression technologies to ensure that transgenes are stably expressed in the desired parts of plants and under the correct conditions. The work of this center is closely related to that of the Center for Designer Crops and includes work in the Plant Transformation Facility.

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Plant breeding programs at Iowa State are recognized throughout the world for their very significant contributions to the productivity and quality of crop cultivars. The plant breeding programs at Iowa State have been unique because they have integrated basic research on breeding methods and germplasm enhancement with the development of improved cultivars. The mission of the new Raymond F. Baker Center for Plant Breeding is to further enhance the plant breeding research programs in corn, forages, soybeans, popcorn, small grains and potential new crops, while educating high-quality graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for employment in both the public and private sectors. The center's challenge is to assure that Iowa State's plant breeding program continues to be second to none.

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The Center for Metabolic Biology facilitates, encourages and sponsors innovative and fundamental molecular research that will lead to a comprehensive understanding of metabolic networks and systems. The center's goal is to generate the fundamental understanding of metabolism that will provide the basis for designing novel pathways for biochemical constituents that improve the nutritional quality of agricultural products, and generate new biorenewable sources of industrial feedstocks.

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The ability to use plants to meet society's needs is constantly limited by unfavorable growing conditions and by weeds, insect pests and diseases. Recent advances in molecular biology, as well as breakthroughs in understanding how plants respond to stress, are making possible new, more effective ways to reduce stress-related losses and increase the sustainability of agricultural cropping systems. The Center for Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses is obtaining fundamental information on the ways plants respond to environmental stresses and how they can be modified to tolerate those stresses. Molecular biologists, plant breeders and crop management scientists will then use this information to modify plants and management practices in ways that increase yield, quality and sustainability.

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The Seed Science Center at Iowa State University is recognized as a national center of excellence in seed research, education and technology transfer, as well as in international seed programs. The center's seed laboratory is the largest and busiest public seed laboratory in the world, testing more than 40,000 samples from 300 species. The center also conducts several thousand seed health tests to enhance export of American seed worldwide. The center took on an additional task when the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Seed Trade Association designated the Seed Science Center to administer the new National Seed Health System beginning this year.

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Center for Crops Utilization Research conducts mission-oriented research (both basic and applied) to find new uses for Midwestern crops and to identify uses for crops that might be grown in this region if a market developed. Activities include developing technologies for producing food and industrial products from agricultural materials, developing agricultural substitutes for petrochemicals, and exploring and modifying the functional properties of crop-derived materials through applied biotechnology. Interdisciplinary teams develop more efficient, cost-effective processing techniques and apply biotechnological advances to modify and improve traditional and new crops. The center encourages successful technology transfer to industry by utilizing state-of-the-art pilot-plant facilities designed to demonstrate "proof-of-concept" by upscaling laboratory studies into commercially viable processes and products. The center takes advantage of partnerships with government and the private sector, as well as the strong research programs and developing technologies within the Plant Sciences Institute and elsewhere in the university.

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Considerable scientific evidence supports the ability of healthy diets to prevent chronic human diseases. In particular, consumption of diets rich in plant-based foods in conjunction with balanced energy intake is associated with reduced rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The mission of the Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition is to conduct and foster interdisciplinary research to improve nutrition and promote good health through new and traditional foods. The emphasis of the research in this center has been on improving human diets through enhancing the plant-based constituents in the human diet and through improving the feeding strategies of animals used for animal- based foods. With the expansion of information on the health benefit of plant constituents, a major emphasis for this center has been improving our understanding of the health impact of plant constituents. Iowa State University provides a unique environment and a sound foundation for this center with considerable strength in nutritional sciences and food sciences and tight integration and cooperation between these and the other food production and basic science programs. The center aims to enhance the interaction between university scientists and food industry and translate the strong basic and applied science programs at Iowa State into new foods that will facilitate optimal nutrition and well-being.

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