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Thomas Ruff

Program Director - Yield and Stress Traits, Monsanto,
Chesterfield, MO, USA

Nutrient and Water Use Efficiency

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
2:00 - 2:30 pm

Abstract: Monsanto has set a goal to double the yield of major crops to meet the growing global demands.  There is also a commitment to require less inputs, such as nutrients and water, to produce a given unit of yield increase.  Transgenes that improve the nutrient and water use efficiencies of plants have been identified and work required to covert those discoveries into commercial products will be discussed.

Biography

Tom Ruff currently serves as the Director of Yield and Stress Traits in the Biotechnology organization of Monsanto. The program has responsibility for Stress, Nutrient, and Intrinsic approaches to yield improvement across Monsanto's key crops.

He joined Monsanto in 1989 as a molecular biologist focusing on projects associated with herbicide tolerance, lipid modification, and carbohydrate modification. In 1993 he assumed responsibility as a senior scientist focused on transgenic approaches to enhance crop yield and the evaluation of metabolic flux and physiological response. He has served in diverse roles including the establishment genetic marker technology for corn with Monsanto, the utilization of functional genomics technologies into cross-functional projects, the establishment of large-scale integration of genomics technologies into cross-functional projects, the establishment of large-scale crop transgenic pipelines, and leadership of transgenic yield projects and platforms. He has also been directly involved in many of the technical collaborations for the genomics and yield fields of research.

Tom received his Bachelor's degree from Purdue University and a Master's degree from Washington University. He has received several awards within Monsanto that recognize his technical contributions.

Click to view Thomas Ruff's ABIC 2010 presentation