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We’re pleased to congratulate the following five F1000 members who are among the first fifteen joint Howard Hughes Medical Institute / Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation investigators. This is a joint initiative supporting basic plant science research. The two organizations are investing a total of US$75 million over the five years of the initial appointments, to address questions such as how photosynthesis can be made more efficient; how plants might be efficiently propagated without seeds; how the plant immune system protects against pathogens; and how plants control their growth and respond to environmental conditions.

The five FMs are:

Plant Biology Head of Faculty Elliot Meyerowitz
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA

Plant Biology Section Head Joseph Ecker
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, CA

Plant Biology FM Philip Benfey
Duke University
Durham, NC

Plant Biology FM Dominique Bergmann
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA

Cell Biology FM Robert Martienssen
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Jennifer Michalowski, Communication Officer at the HHMI wrote,

These scientists are among the most innovative and productive plant biologists in the country, and GBMF and HHMI believe their research could have significant impacts on human health, environmental issues, identification of renewable energy resources, and food production. […] From what we hear, the plant science community is thrilled about the new program and there’s a lot of excitement about the discoveries these scientists will make with more robust funding.