Dr. Chilton Inducted into USDA's Hall of Heroes

Dr. Chilton Inducted into USDA's Hall of Heroes

I had the opportunity to visit with Syngenta’s Distinguished Science Fellow Dr. Mary-Dell Chilton. She was one of the inductees into the USDA’s Hall of Heroes — which is recognizes those who have had a lasting impact on agriculture. Dr. Chilton’s work with plant biotechnology led her to produce the first transgenetic plant in 1983 and demonstrate that plant genomes could be altered more precisely than previously thought. She says
Chilton: “The technology for genetically modifying plants is safe and its natural. We’ve learned it from a microbe. We use a microbe now — we exploit that microbe to put genes of our choice in plants.”
She says that this technology will be a very important element of helping to solve our planet’s issues like climate change.
Chilton: “The climate of the earth is changing more rapidly now. We are going to need all the tools that we can get to make plants that can deal with the changing environment. This technology will be an excellent tool in the hands of plant breeders. It is fast. It is safe and it is precise.”
Dr. Chilton is only the second woman to be inducted into the USDA Hall of Heroes.
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