Duckweed Genome Sequencing Has Global Implications
July 2008

Three plant biologists at Rutgers’ Waksman Institute of Microbiology are obsessed with duckweed, a tiny aquatic plant with an unassuming name. Now they have convinced the federal government to focus its attention on duckweed’s tremendous potential for cleaning up pollution, combating global warming and feeding the world.

Click here for full Rutgers news release

PGIR projects featured on NJN Science and Technology Report
March 2008

NJN highlights Waksman's plant genomics research on probing the recently sequenced genomes of corn and other related products for ways to improve both food crops and potential bio fuel sources.

GASL induction official.
November 2007

Back in August, Rutger's University released a statement announcing Dr. Messings election to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. This month, he was presented with the official certificate of membership as given by the President of the organization. Congratulations Director Messing!

Click here for initial Rutgers press release

The Thinkers
Fall 2007, Rutgers Magazine

Dr. Hugo K. Dooner gets the cover of Rutgers Magazine for his recent election to the National Academy Sciences. He and three others from Rutgers are featured in a six-page article about their recent induction into the esteemed academy.

WSSP Gets $3 Million Boost From NSF
September 12, 2007

Professors William Sofer and Andrew Vershon have been awarded grants from the National Science Foundation, totalling nearly $3,000,000, to support their outreach efforts beyond the borders of the university to regional high schools. The recipients plan to incorporate two new programs into the Waksman Student Scholars Program (WSSP) – " Bioinformatics: Learning by Doing," a four-year project, and "HiGene: A Genome Sequencing Project for High Schools," a three-year project. For the past 14 years, more than 1,500 high school students and 72 Teachers from 46 New Jersey High Schools have engaged in Molecular Biology Research through the program. Established in 1993, the WSSP has been sponsored by the Waksman Institute, Rutgers’ Department of Genetics and Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and Rutgers’ Division of Life Sciences. It has been supported by other grants from the NSF, the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Merck & Co., Inc.