Cornell nets $7 million grant for corn study Hoping to gain a
better understanding of the world's largest staple crop, the
National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $7 million
grant to Michael J. Scanlon, Cornell professor of plant biology.
Scanlon leads a team of nine researchers who study the maize
shoot apical meristem (SAM) -- a pool of plant stem cells
responsible for forming essentially all of the above-ground
parts of the corn plant. "The meristem we study has a
characteristic shape and a lot of diversity," Scanlon said.
"This is the part of the plant that contains the stem cells that
will give rise to every and all organs in the plant. We're
interested in learning how those differences are controlled
genetically." In addition to being one of the world's most
important staple crops, maize is also one of the most
genetically diverse. Hunter-gatherers in what is now Mexico
began breeding corn's ancestor, the weed teosinte, 10,000 years
ago. Now, largely thanks to human-directed plant breeding,