World Food Prize 2013 shared by three plant biotechnologists

Marc Van Montagu of Belgium, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T Fraley of US won the award for individual breakthrough achievements in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology

The prestigious World Food prize for 2013 has been jointly awarded to three scientists — Marc Van Montagu of Belgium and Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T Fraley of the United States for their individual breakthrough achievements in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology.

“Their research is making it possible for farmers to grow crops with: improved yields; resistance to insects and disease; and the ability to tolerate extreme variations in climate,” the World Food Prize said in a statement on its website. The award will be presented in October.

“The revolutionary biotechnology discoveries of these three individuals —each working in separate facilities on two continents—unlocked the key to plant cell transformation using recombinant DNA.”

“Their work led to the development of a host of genetically enhanced crops, which, by 2012, were grown on more than 170 million hectares around the globe by 17.3 million farmers, over 90 percent of whom were small resource-poor farmers in developing countries,” the statement said.

The World Food Prize was instituted in 1987 by the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug. It is international award recognizing individuals who have contributed landmark achievements in increasing the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

Robert T Fraley is Chief Technology Officer of Monsanto  while Marc Van Montagu is the founder of Belgium-based Company Plant Genetic Systems and Mary-Dell Chilton is a  Distinguished Science Fellow at Syngenta Biotechnology Inc.