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Sandia Technology logo A quarterly research and development magazine.

Winter 2006/2007
Volume 8, No. 4

SANDIA TECHNOLOGY

Sandia – Monsanto Company announce cooperative agreement

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and Monsanto Company, based in Creve Coeur, Missouri, have announced a three-year research collaboration that is expected to play a role in both organizations’ interests in biology and bioenergy.

cornfield
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. The arrangement is aimed at aligning Sandia’s capabilities in bioanalytical imaging and analysis with Monsanto’s research in developing new seed-based products for farmers that may be able to produce more ethanol per bushel.

Sandia’s equipment “offers a unique imaging capability,” said Grant Heffelfinger, senior manager of the labs Molecular and Computational Biosciences group. The tool offers the possibility of better understanding ways to convert cellulosecontaining biomasss into transportation fuel, he said.

man in wheatfield
The research, which falls under a larger, “umbrella” cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA), will initially focus on hyperspectral fluorescence imaging and spectral analysis. Researchers from the two organizations will apply Sandia’s patented imaging technology to aid in the study of plant tissue samples of interest to Monsanto, the first agriculture company to make use of this cutting-edge approach.

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced scanning technology that provides significantly more information on a subject of interest than other scanning technologies commercially available today by detecting microscopic images using a continuous spectrum of light.

The shared goal for the partners is to identify components and structure of plants — including grasses, trees, corn, soybeans, and other crops — that can most easily be converted to liquid transportation fuels. Monsanto’s crop analytics research program has recently played a role in discovering new products for farmers, including corn hybrids that offer more ethanol output per bushel and soy-bean varieties that produce more nutritious oils for consumers.