Jozef Stefaan "Jeff", Baron Schell (20 July 1935 – 17 April 2003) was a Belgian molecular biologist. Schell studied zoology and

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

at the University of Ghent, Belgium. From 1967 to 1995 he worked as a professor at the university. From 1978 to 2000 he was director and head of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (Institut für Züchtungsforschung) at the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Cologne, Germany. He received many prizes, among which were the Francqui Prize in 1979, the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 1990, and the

Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." The P ...

in 1998, which he shared with Marc Van Montagu.Prof. Dr. Jozef S. Schell
japanprize.jp He also was appointed Professeur Honoraire, Collège de France, Paris in 1998. He was granted the title of Baron by Baudouin of Belgium. Schell was a pioneer in genetics who focused on the interaction between plants and soil bacteria. Along with his colleague, Marc Van Montagu, Jeff Schell discovered the gene transfer mechanism between Agrobacterium and plants, which resulted in the development of methods to alter Agrobacterium into an efficient delivery system for gene engineering in plants. Besides being a prominent scientist, in 1982 he co-founded, with Marc Van Montagu, the successful biotech company Plant Genetic Systems Inc., now part of Bayer CropScience.

Selected publications

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References

1935 births 2003 deaths Flemish scientists Flemish businesspeople Belgian molecular biologists Ghent University alumni Academic staff of Ghent University History of biotechnology Australia Prize recipients Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Max Planck Institute directors {{Belgium-scientist-stub

See also

Selected publications

References