Our efforts in Plant Biotechnology span over 30 years with the original work of Dr. Curtis' thesis on growing opium poppy cultures in tissue culture. A decade of effort examined bioreactor improvements including seminal patents to use low cost plastic bag systems for tissue culture. Our work on root culture addressed the issues of scaling roots to large scale in bioreactors as well. Other topics in Applied Plant Biotechnology include production of animal vaccines in plants, genetic engineering of mushrooms, and efforts to develop transgenic plants for insect resistance. Our lab has developed extensive tools for plant biotechnology including improved Agrobacterium for plant transformation, and extensive reporter genes and vectors for transient gene expression. Hundreds of undergraduates have contributed to these extensive efforts. Click on the pretty plants above to learn more.