RIP Mary-Dell Chilton (Feb 2, 1939 – Jun 24, 2026), a pioneer in plant sciences and the inventor of transgenic plants.
At the U of Washington, she started out to disprove a theory that a bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes a disease in trees by modifying their DNA. She discovered that the theory was true. She then developed a way to replace the harmful DNA in the bacterium with desirable DNA, such as genes that promote pest and drought resistance.
https://www.ncbiotech.org/news/plant-dna-pioneer-mary-dell-chilton-dies-87
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