On Tour at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

*****Here is a joint article I wrote with many high-tech details throughout contributed by Danforth Center experts. My contributions were from several pages of notes I took from an early December 2019 group tour.  The article was published on 1/27/20 in West Newsmagazine with great work from my editor, Kate Uptergrove.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center [Danforth Plant Science Center photo]

     Docent Joan Culver needed just an apple, a knife and a few choice words to convince her tour group of the impending world food crisis. Her display was conducted in the lobby of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center before her official tour began.

     The apple was first cut into four equal pieces. Culver held up one of those pieces, stating that only about 1/4 of the earth is non-water, where food can be grown.

     Then, she cut that piece in half, leaving 1/8 of the apple and stating that hardly any food can be grown in the desert, Arctic, Antarctic, etc. She cut that piece in half again, leaving just 1/16 of the original piece because what can be grown on roads, highways, school properties and the like? The final cut accounted for other buildings.

     So, the total area where food can be grown was down to just 1/32 – roughly 3% of the planet. Culver then added that further reductions were due to harmful fertilizers.

     Finally, Culver carefully cut off the apple peel from that small slice. She explained that, at our current population growth, the Earth’s 7 billion residents today should grow to about 10 billion by 2050. 

     In a few minutes, the purpose of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center was perfectly explained in a nutshell – or rather an apple peel.

     Founded in 1998, the Center’s original building was constructed in 2001. The William H. Danforth wing opened in 2016. It is the largest independent, not-for-profit plant science research institution in the world. Its mission is: “To Improve the Human Condition through Plant Science.” 

     All of the Center’s labs are open, their mini pods and other open spaces are designed so that scientists from different disciplines can connect and share ideas.  The Center’s culture of collaboration is geared toward accelerating research to bring innovations to market more rapidly due to the urgency of the combined current and future world food conditions and population growth. 

The greenhouses at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center [Danforth Plant Science Center photo]

     The Center can mimic climates around the world in its approximately 80 growth chambers and has several research projects to improve staple crops grown in developing countries. For instance, Center scientists are working with partners in Kenya and Uganda to add important nutrients to cassava, a root vegetable similar to a potato, as well as make it resistant to two virus diseases which have been damaging farmers’ harvest for decades. Cassava is grown in over 30 African countries. Approximately one-third of the continent’s population relies on cassava’s starchy tuberous roots for over 50% of their daily caloric intake, making it the second most important staple food crop [after maize].

     A cassava tuber [the edible part of the plant] can stay in the ground for a couple years until its needed for food, but there’s no way to tell whether or not it’s diseased until cut open. Making cassava more disease resistant could mean that years of growth are not wasted.

     The Center features over an acre of research-grade greenhouse space and over 80 controlled environment growth chambers. These state-of-the art facilities are available to Danforth laboratories, though scientists and companies from outside the Center can also rent space as small as one square foot to advance their research and commercialization efforts.

     A rapidly growing number of those greenhouses are now utilizing horticultural LEDs, some with a magenta color and others in a more familiar bright white. These cutting-edge LED technologies are being used to improve general plant growth and crop quality, as well as to address specific research efforts such as breeding crops with improved photosynthetic capacity and higher yield. These new LED lights not only are proving to grow high quality crops, but they do so while operating at nearly half the electricity of conventional greenhouse lights, require far less maintenance, and are free of hazardous mercury common in fluorescent lights.  Danforth is excited about the early results and continuing potential of these LEDs to drive sustainable innovation for Center scientists and collaborators. 

     Using a multi-million-dollar phenotyping machine, scientists can measure plant characteristics that they can then use to measure things such as how efficiently plants use light or nutrients. Approximately 180,000 images are taken per five-week experiment. 

     Throughout its brief existence, Danforth Center researchers have published more than 1,000 important discoveries  in scientific publications, many of which are in the public domain. Additionally, its president, James C. Carrington, Ph.D., is recognized as one of the most highly-cited plant scientists in the world.

     The Center is committed to the development of new companies and has a BioResearch & Development Growth [BRDG] Park located on its campus that is home to 15 companies and a workforce training program.  

     Tenant KWS SAAT describes itself as “an independent and family-owned company based in Germany that focuses on plant breeding, with activities in about 70 countries.” The company located their North American headquarters here in 2014.

     Benson Hill Biosystems, a startup launched with technology developed at the Danforth Center, describes itself as “a crop improvement company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants.” It recently announced a plan to make St. Louis its official headquarters and will be located in the new EDGE@BRDG 160,000-square-foot building scheduled to open this spring.  

     The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, BRDG Park, the Helix Incubator, Bayer Crop Science and the Yield Lab are anchors of 39º North, a 600-acre innovation district near the intersection of Creve Coeur and Olivette. Each of those entities are contributing to agricultural research and commercialization in significant ways. 

     Though the tour covers just a fragment of all that is taking place in the “AgCoast” of St. Louis County, it is an hour well spent. 

Tours can be arranged by calling Brigid Thayer at (314) 587-1073 or emailing BThayer@danforthcenter.org. Those who attend must sign the guest book and provide their email address. Tour attendees will get invitations to three more events per year. Visitors must be at least 18 years old and photographs cannot be taken once visitors leave the lobby area.

Delmar: ‘Bridge’ to Development? War Zone or New Frontier?

(…one of my first pure news stories from some 30 years ago, after interviewing seven people in the know. It’s interesting to see what has changed since that time.)

     Named for the home states of two 19^th-century property owners—Delaware and Maryland—Delmar Boulevard has been a key thoroughfare in the development of St. Louis, both city and county.  For many, the term ‘north of Delmar’ has indicated ‘marginal’ neighborhoods where developers and lending institutions fear to tread.  West End Word writer Jeff Greenberg examines development prospects along Delmar Boulevard from U.City’s Loop to the Central West End, including a few ‘pioneers’ who have staked a claim in once desolate areas.

     While city and county officials continue to mull over details of the proposed Metro Link light rail system, future development of sections of an important West End link hangs in the balance.

     Several civic and business leaders and developers cite Delmar Boulevard as the pivotal bridge to additional progress in the area.  That is the primary reason 28^th Ward Alderman Daniel McGuire introduced a bill on Feb. 9 proposing a major blighting operation on the 5200 to 5000 blocks of Delmar Boulevard.  McGuire is seeking a policy of eminent domain for all but six of the 26 buildings in that area.

     “Unfortunately, Delmar has been a physical and psychological barrier to the city,” McGuire said.  “It should be a bridge—not a barrier anymore.  “We should assist businesses there.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to use the hospital (St. Louis Regional Medical Center) to work off.”

     According to McGuire’s ‘bridge’ theory, the U. City Loop stands at one end with Kingshighway Boulevard to Sarah Street developments at the other.

     While few people can dispute the U. City Loop’s role as Delmar’s principal economic anchor, one can hardly dispute the history of other stretches of Delmar Boulevard to that of the Loop.

     “I don’t think the U. City Loop ever hit bottom as badly as this area,” said City Wide Realty developer Bruce Ring, who has developed $10 million worth of commercial and residential property along Delmar Boulevard and the near North Side.  “So, the intellectuals and college people never deserted the Loop like they did the Delmar-Skinker area and other places to the east.”

     “We’ve been reborn every six months, but this is a stable, developing neighborhood that never really died,” said U. City 2^nd Ward Councilman Paul Schoomer.  “There was a time when it wasn’t great for retail, but it had other things to offer.  We have businesses that come and go with the frequency of any small business failures.  It’s like economic Darwinism.”

     While the U. City side of Delmar Boulevard has indeed remained pretty stable, serious decay of buildings on and near other parts of the thoroughfare has hindered progress elsewhere—as in the case of McGuire’s ward.

     Developments in many sections of the city have been especially slowed by the difficulty of securing necessary financing for construction and rehab projects.  But the unavailability of low-cost insurance has been another barrier.

     According to 28^th Alderman Marian Miller, the brunt of the dilemma is due to the elimination to key public programs.  Miller cited problems that Citywide Realty had in getting financing to rehab a multi-family dwelling on the south side of Delmar Boulevard at Union Boulevard.

     “Once the lending companies get off their prejudicial behinds, this area will be OK,” said Ring, whose projects include the Medicare-Glaser Center.  “As soon as the stigma goes away, these areas will keep improving.”

     Despite the barriers, Miller is steadfastly working with Rep. William Clay, Sen. John Danforth, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Boatmen’s Bank in an effort to further improve the physical and psychological climate.   

     Elsewhere, Nesby Moore is determined to push for continued progress with his private entity, the Union-Sarah Economic Development Corp.

     “This area had one of the highest crime rates in the entire city when we began here 14 years ago,” said Moore, whose group was responsible for the popular National Supermarket at Delmar and Kingshighway boulevards.  “We had the first major development plan in north St. Louis.

     “There are over 50 kinds of businesses, and when we started, there were only six.  You look at the economics of that and see that the number of people employed rose from about 50 to more than 400.”

     Ring pointed to traffic estimates of about 50,000 cars a day passing by Delmar and Union to reiterate the market for further business expansion.  There are other reasons to believe that this would be a good area in which to locate.

     While the width of Delmar Boulevard is another asset, Steve Casagrande of Bevco Liquors chose his 5127 locale because of its quick and easy access to all parts of the St. Louis metropolitan area. 

     But in order to secure a solid West End future, Casagrande believes that commercial property along Delmar must be accompanied by suitable residential dwellings.

     “I think that getting the population stabilized would be the key to this area,” Casagrande said.  “We need family ownership of homes instead of rental areas.  That will attract restaurants and boutique shops, and ultimately draw the rest of the businesses.”

     Ring referred to the success of the Central West End to agree with Casagrande’s assessment.  He said that the CWE has come a long way in the last 10 to 15 years, and housing costs are evidence to that fact.  Ring said that a $45,000 Portland Place house is now worth $500,000 to $1 million.

     “Like the Central West End, we’ll be brought back—but only after the lending institutions have backed us,” Miller said.  “Maybe they’re getting more conservative, but our people are more active in organizing.  People are tired of waiting.  Young people need support in order to keep them there.”

     Miller said that she has definitely seen an upswing in the number of people in their 40s who have moved into the area or who are planning to. 

     Casagrande said that no progress in that direction will be hasty because conditions in the Central West End were never quite as extensively run down as major stretched near Delmar.

     “One of my close friends once said, ‘Delmar is like a deep river,’” Casagrande said.  “It’s like a dividing line between north and south St. Louis…and it looked like a war zone when I got here (from native Spring Lake, NJ) 30 years ago.”

     That ‘deep river’ analogy provides the perfect basis for supporting the quest to ‘bridge’ Delmar’s major gaps in development.  

     Metro Link is one project that is expected to benefit much of the area.  A Metro Link station is planned near Delmar and Hodiamont Avenue, close to where the old Wabash train station now sits.  “That stretch of Delmar needs another anchor, and I feel the Metro Link station will generate traffic, attract investment and spur additional commercial development,” said Nancy Farmer, executive director of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Development Council.

     But many area leaders predict that any boon from that system will not occur in the near future, and that it will only help this area if commercial and residential developments are begun both before and shortly after its completion.

     “The Central West End has jelled to the point where we no longer have large patches needing massive rehabilitation,” McGuire said.  “Now we need to extend the rejuvenation.  To me, it’s a natural growth.  Cities not only grow, but they rebuild.  Add on the impact of the light rail system, and I think we have a wonderful opportunity to ride the momentum”

     McGuire was elated to announce that the practicing architects and students at the American Institute of Architects will discuss Delmar Boulevard for this October’s annual ‘charette,’ a massive brainstorming session.