Iowa State’s College of Agriculture has made an ambitious move in becoming the agricultural center of the world by creating the new Plant Sciences Institute.

The plan was approved at the September meeting of the Board of Regents, state of Iowa.

Colin Scanes, executive associate dean of the College of Agriculture, was appointed interim director of the new Plant Sciences Institute in mid-September.

“My goal is to get the institute off to a good start by laying the groundwork and putting the institute into a position to achieve their goals,” Scanes said.

“We are going to make sure ISU becomes one of the strongest research universities in the area of fundamental and applied sciences,” he said.

To help get the institute started, the Iowa Legislature has provided $2.2 million, which Scanes hopes will increase to $10 million within the next few years.

“We have a very strong foundation on which to build at ISU,” said ISU President Martin Jischke.

“We have a top plant center, and we can make the Plant Sciences Institute number one as well,” he said.

A new program Scanes plans to start at the institute will examine the social, ethical and environmental issues of plant sciences.

One ethical issue the institute will research is the use of genetically altered plants.

“We plan to work with other faculty and departments in solving this problem,” said David Topel, dean of the College of Agriculture.

“One example is bringing in professors from math and statistics and people involved with corn breeding and with genetics,” Topel said.

The institute consists of a group of centers, focused on specific areas of the plant sciences.

Six new centers currently are identified: plant genomics, biological statistics and bioinformatics, plant transformation and gene expression, plant breeding, designer crops and plant responses to environmental stresses.

Two existing centers that are administered by the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station and are part of the institute include the Seed Science Center and Center for Crops Utilization Research.

Scanes said the fourth floor of Bessey Hall will be renovated to accommodate the institute until a permanent site is built.

He hopes the renovations will be completed by next summer.

Scanes sees a local mission to the institute outside of its international focus.

“The aim of the Plant Sciences Institute is not only to be a center for plant science, but to serve the needs of Iowans in terms of training and developing new and existing companies,” he said. “It’s important to provide an economic environment that can create good paying jobs in Iowa and keep our students here.”

An international search is being planned to fill four new faculty positions within the institute.

These positions will be focused on plant stress and bioinformatics.

“This is one area where Iowa can be a world leader,” Jischke said. “It is a great opportunity for new jobs.”