Ronald L. Phillips (1940 – 25 August 2023) was an American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and a regents professor at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. In 1985 he was elected a fellow and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

and in 1991 he was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

Education and career

Phillips completed his B.S. and M.S. degrees from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. After completing his master's degree, moved to the University of Minnesota where he studied maize

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

advised by Charles Burnham, graduating in 1966. After completing his PhD, he spent a short time as a postdoc at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. Since 1967, he has been a professor at the University of Minnesota. Officially retiring in 2010, he is now Regents Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota.

Research

Ronald L. Phillips was the first to generate whole corn plants from cells grown in culture, which laid the foundation for, and sparked, a new industry, using cell-culture methods to genetically modify corn plants and other cereals. The corn cell line which is most widely used for genetic modification of corn has greatly accelerated the improvement of corn, as food, feed and fuel. His research program at the University of Minnesota was one of the early programs in modern plant biotechnology related to agriculture. Research in the Phillips laboratory have further led to the identification of cells and plants with increased levels of essential amino acids and the development of an efficient DNA sequence mapping system used by plant scientists in genomics research. He found was possible to introgress individual maize chromosomes into oat, where they were stably inherited. His lab generated a set nine oat lines each carrying the complete oat genome plus one maize chromosome

Recognition

In 2006/7, he was awarded the

Wolf Prize in Agriculture The Wolf Prize in Agriculture is awarded annually since 1978 by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes, alongside those for Wolf Prize in Chemistry, chemistry, Wolf Prize in Mathematics, mathematics, Wolf Prize in Medicine, ...

along with

Michel A. J. Georges Michel A. J. Georges (1959) is a Belgian biologist and a professor at the University of Liège. Birth and education Michel A. J. Georges was born in 1959 in Schoten, Belgium. He received his Doctor in Veterinary Medicine from the University of ...

of the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

"for groundbreaking discoveries in genetics and genomics, laying the foundations for improvements in crop and livestock breeding, and sparking important advances in plant and animal sciences". In 2010 Phillips received the ISA Medal for Science from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

and the Siehl Prize from the University of Minnesota.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Ronald L. 1940 births 2023 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Purdue University alumni University of Minnesota alumni University of Minnesota faculty Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates

Education and career

Research

Recognition

See also

References