Marc, Baron Van Montagu (born 10 November 1933 in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. He was full professor and director of the Laboratory of Genetics at the faculty of Sciences at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) and scientific director of the Genetics Department of the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB). Together with

Jozef Schell Jozef Stefaan "Jeff", Baron Schell (20 July 1935 – 17 April 2003) was a Belgian molecular biologist. Schell studied zoology and microbiology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. From 1967 to 1995 he worked as a professor at the university. Fro ...

he founded the biotech company

Plant Genetic Systems Plant Genetic Systems (PGS), since 2002 part of Bayer CropScience, is a biotech company located in Ghent, Belgium. The focus of its activities is the genetic engineering of plants. The company is best known for its work in the development of inse ...

Inc. (Belgium) in 1982, of which he was Scientific Director and member of the board of Directors. Van Montagu was also involved in founding the biotech company

CropDesign CropDesign is a biotech company located in Ghent, Belgium. The company develops a portfolio of agronomic traits for the global commercial seed markets. It has developed a technology platform to discover genetic traits for the improvement of corn ...

, of which he was a board member from 1998 to 2004. He is president of the Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI). Van Montagu and his colleagues were credited with the discovery of the

Ti plasmid A tumour inducing (Ti) plasmid is a plasmid found in pathogenic species of ''Agrobacterium'', including ''A. tumefaciens, ''A. rhizogenes'', ''A. rubi'' and ''A. vitis''. Evolutionarily, the Ti plasmid is part of a family of plasmids carried b ...

. They described the gene transfer mechanism between ''

Agrobacterium ''Agrobacterium'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria established by H. J. Conn that uses horizontal gene transfer to cause tumors in plants. ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens'' is the most commonly studied species in this genus. ''Agrobacterium'' is ...

'' and plants, which resulted in the development of methods to alter ''Agrobacterium'' into an efficient delivery system for gene engineering and to create

transgenic plant Genetically modified plants have been engineered for scientific research, to create new colours in plants, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of ''Agrobacterium'' for the ...

s. They developed plant

molecular genetics Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

, in particular molecular mechanisms for cell proliferation and differentiation and response to

abiotic In biology and ecology, abiotic components or abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them under ...

stresses (high light,

ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

and

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

) and constructed transgenic crops (

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

rape seed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus ''subsp.'' napus''), also known as rape, or oilseed rape, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturally contains a ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

) resistant to

insect pest Economic entomology is a field of entomology, which involves the study of insects that benefit or harm humans, domestic animals, and crops. Insects that cause losses are termed as pests. Some species can cause indirect damage by spreading disea ...

and tolerant to novel

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

s. His work with poplar trees resulted in engineering of trees with improved

pulping Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...

qualities. After his retirement as director of the Laboratory of Genetics at Ghent University, Marc Van Montagu created IPBO - International Plant Biotechnology Outreach, VIB-Ghent University, with the mission to foster biotechnological solutions to global agriculture. In 2015 IPBO launched the “Marc and Nora Van Montagu (MNVM) Fund” with focus on

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

and agro-industry to the African continent.

Honors

Van Montagu has been a foreign associate of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

since 1986, the agricultural Academy of Russia and France, the Academy of Engineering of Sweden, the Italian Academy of Sciences dei X, the Brazilian Academy of Science, and the Third World Academy of Sciences. He holds eight

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

Degrees. In 1990 he was granted the title of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Baudouin of Belgium Baudouin (;, ; nl, Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Maria Gustaaf, ; german: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Maria Gustav. 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his de ...

. His awards include: * 1987:

Rank Prize for Nutrition The Rank Prizes comprise the Rank Prize for Optoelectronics and the Rank Prize for Nutrition. The prizes recognise, reward and encourage researchers working in the respective fields of optoelectronics and nutrition. The prizes are funded by the c ...

(UK) * 1988: IBM Europe Science and Technology Prize (France) * 1990:

Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer The Grand Prix Charles-Léopold Mayer (Charles-Léopold Mayer Prize) is awarded annually by the Académie des Sciences (French Academy of Sciences) de l'Institut de France (the French Institute) to researchers who have performed outstanding work in ...

from the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

* 1990: Dr. A. de Leeuw-Damry-Bourlart Prize (five yearly Prize of the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research) * 1998:

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 ...

for Biotechnology in Agriculture Sciences (Japan)Dr. Marc C.E. Van Montagu
japanprize.jp * 1999: Theodor Bücher Medal (FEBS) * 2009: Genome Valley Excellence Award 2009 (BioAsia, India) * 2013:

World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nor ...

laureate.Press Release: World Food Prize honors biotech pioneers
World Food Prize, 18 June 2013. *2015: Iran Agriculture Golden Medal

Selected publications

* * * * *

References

External links

Marc Van Montagu

International Plant Biotechnology Outreach (IPBO) {{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, Marc Van 1933 births Living people Flemish businesspeople Belgian molecular biologists Flemish scientists Ghent University alumni Academic staff of Ghent University History of biotechnology Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Agriculture and food award winners

Honors

See also

Selected publications

References

External links