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Innovation and advances
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The Pfizer Laboratory, which was dedicated on May 16, 2006, ushers in a new era of scientific research at the Garden. A $23 million project, it triples the Garden's research capabilities, provides much-needed quarters to educate the next generation of plant scientists, and houses the Garden's programs in molecular systematics studies and plant genomics.
Advancing Innovative Research: A Glimpse Inside the Lab
Just two examples of molecular research underway in the facilities and programs of the Garden's International Plant Science Center:
Dr. Ken Cameron is identifying segments of plant DNA that can serve as "DNA barcodes" for all species of plants in the world. The Garden is working with 12 international institutions to develop this new molecular capability, which is well underway in animals but not yet in plants. A pilot application of this is the development of a DNA barcode inventory of all the approximately 340 vascular plants in the Garden's forest.
Dr. Amy Litt is looking at the plant family to which both tomatoes and petunias belong. She is trying to find genes for fruit development-will the fruit be juicy like a tomato or dry like a petunia seedpod? Her aim is to shed light on the evolutionary history of this economically important group of plants.
Learn more:
.. Download presentations on other Garden research projects
.. Visit the exhibition Plants and Fungi: Ten Current Research Projects
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