Sean R. Cutler is a professor of plant

cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

. In 2009 Cutler showed how

abscisic acid Abscisic acid (ABA or abscisin II) is a plant hormone. ABA functions in many plant developmental processes, including seed and bud dormancy, the control of organ size and stomatal closure. It is especially important for plants in the response to ...

, a naturally-produced plant stress hormone, helps plants survive by inhibiting their growth in times of drought. Cutler also discovered

pyrabactin Pyrabactin is a synthetic sulfonamide that mimics abscisic acid (ABA), a naturally produced stress hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multice ...

, a synthetic chemical that mimics abscisic acid. His research was named by

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

magazine as one of the top 10 breakthroughs of the year. In 2018, 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 ...

. Cutler received his B.A. and M.S. from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, and his Ph.D. from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He is a member of the Editorial Board for ''

PNAS ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of S ...

''. He was elected to th
US National Academy of Sciences
in 2018.

References

External links

Sean Cutler - UCR website

Imagine there’s no hunger... It’s easy if you try (University of California)

Organic compound comes to the aid of thirsty plants, Royal Society of Chemistry, 01 May 2009

What if Scientists Didn’t Compete? (New York Times article on Cutler, April 30, 2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Sean University of California, Riverside faculty University of Toronto alumni Stanford University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)