Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. (NYSE: PHB), is supporting a new program to train students in biotechnology research at Iowa State University.

The Pioneer Fellowship Program in Maize Molecular Genetics will fund the research projects of' three Ph.D. students. Pioneer will provide the funding for the program's first year, as well as access to its corn genomics resources and technologies. Pioneer was the first seed genetics company to apply the tools of genomice to the development of corn hybrids.

"A training program like this was needed because there has been a tendency nationwide for universities to replace corn-genetics programs with programs that use plants that are easy to work with but aren't commercially important," said Patrick Schnable, professor of agronomy at Iowa State University. "We feel it's important to provide industry with graduates who have biotechnology training with a direct link to corn.

"Demand is high for graduates with molecular genetics expertise because of the explosion of activity on plant genome research, Schnable said. "This fits well with the impact we believe enhanced corn products will have on agriculture and food production," said Tony Cavalieri, vice president of research, trait and technology development at Pioneer. "Developing well-prepared potential employees is important to the whole industry."

The first Pioneer fellows will work in research labs in three departments at ISU.

One will work in Schnable's lab to develop strategies to locate genes that may be overlooked by current gene-finding technologies. Such overlooked genes could have important regulatory roles in turning on other genes. They also could help corn plants resist attacks by pathogens, or help the plants deal with environmental stresses like drought.

Another fellow will work in the lab of Tom Peterson, associate professor of zoology and genetics. The student will investigate the function of a gene that may regulate the production of compounds that are important to pathogen resistance and male fertility in corn.

The third fellow will work in the labs of Alan Myers, professor, and Martha James, associate scientist, in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology. This student will conduct research on the function of enzymes involved in starch production. A better understanding of starch biosynthesis may lead to ways to modify corn to produce new specialty starches for food or industrial uses.

Pioneer Hi-Bred international, Inc. is the world's leading supplier of agricultural genetics and is the leading developer and integrator of agricultural technology. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Pioneer develops, produces and markets a full line of seeds, forage/grain additives and services to farmers, grain processors and other customers worldwide.

Donna Ramaeker Zahn
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
515-270-4194

Patrick Schnable
Iowa State University
Agronomy
515-294-0975

Brian Meyer
Iowa State University
Agriculture Information
515-294-0706

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