Julia Bailey-Serres

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a non-profit research institute founded in 1998 with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. The non-profit company's research, education, and outreach efforts focus on the intersection of food security and the environment, positioning St. Louis as a world center for plant science. The company is based in St. Louis, MO. The center is funded through competitive grants from various sources, including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The center's principal investigators conduct fundamental research that leads to useful crops and products that solve real problems.

Benson Hill Holdings, Inc. operates a crop design platform to develop sustainable food and ingredients. It offers CropOS (Crop Operating System), a cognitive engine that provides decision support to accelerate crop improvement and enhance the sustainability of food, feed, fiber, and fuel production using plant biology, big data analytics and cloud computing. The company was founded by Matthew B. Crisp, Todd Mockler and Thomas P. Brutnell in 2012 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.