Monsanto Opens Molecular Breeding Site for Vegetables
15 August 2013 
Monsanto announced the completion of a $31-million expansion at its vegetable seed research headquarters in California. The expansion, which includes a 90,000 square-foot state-of-the-art laboratory and office building, makes the location Monsanto’s primary site for molecular breeding of vegetable seeds. The expansion also makes the lab the largest of its kind in the world for vegetable seed health testing.
“This allows us to maintain a close working relationship with our customers in an area which has become a hub for seed science and which produces more than half of all vegetables grown in the U.S.,” said Mark Oppenhuizen, the site’s strategy and operations lead.
The company says traditional breeding remains the main focus of its work with more than two dozen kinds of vegetables. The expansion, however, will allow for the on-site addition of a seed chipper created by Monsanto engineers. Seed chippers enable breeders to know the characteristics of a plant before it is planted through analysis of a small part of the seed. Breeders can then conduct more efficient research trials to pinpoint vegetable traits which will improve grower productivity and provide consumers with improved benefits such as better vegetable taste, color and quality.
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