Bobby Williams
Senior Research Manager, DuPont Pioneer
Expert Bio
Bobby Williams is a senior research manager for DuPont Pioneer. Since joining DuPont Pioneer in 2003, he has focused on drought tolerance gene discovery as well as contributed to several gene silencing technology programs. He has published numerous papers, book chapters and patents and is an active reviewer for several journals. He completed his doctoral research at Caltech with Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz and focused on the genetics of plant development. He then moved to UC Berkeley for postdoctoral research under the supervision of Dr. Gerald Rubin on the function and evolution of small RNA. Williams received his bachelor of arts degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from UC Santa Cruz.
Studies, Articles and Answers
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Question
A: I have been working in the plant biotechnology industry now for a little over three years and I find it fascinating that scientists are able to identify genes and genetically modify plants in order to meet global food, feed and energy demands. Corn, as many of you might know, is one of the most important cereal crops produced in the world. Corn is used as a main source of food for both humans and livestock and is also the leading crop used for bio-energy production. Here at BASF Plant Science, we have many projects that aim to identify particular genes that may enhance a plant’s abil [...]
A: This is a great question that really gets at the foundation of what I do in my job. When researchers make changes to the genetic make-up of a plant such as turning off an existing gene or adding a gene from another source to create a new, desirable characteristic (or trait), the resulting plants are considered GMOs. The process starts by defining the desired trait. For example, we might want to improve how a plant protects itself from insects, make a plant herbicide tolerant or increase the likelihood a plant will grow and yield in drought conditions. In order to find genes that have the desir [...]