Iowa State Homepage Forecasters see the next decade as one of tremendous opportunity and discovery in the fields of biotechnology and information sciences. One of the most exciting developments is the almost overnight emergence of an industry built on a combination of agricultural biotechnology, life sciences and information sciences. This new industry uses new methods developed by computer and plant scientists making plants much more valuable in feeding the world's population, in production of farm animals and in providing biobased fuels, products and industrial feedstocks.
Plants have the potential for replacing petroleum as the material basis of our economy.
New products, new jobs and new companies will result. Iowa State University's world-class Plant Sciences Institute brings together the best minds in the world in a collaborative program of academic, government and private sector research and technology transfer. Developments in genetics, genomics, plant transformation and elements of information sciences such as bioinformatics are drawing increased attention to the plant sciences in universities, in government research agencies and in life sciences companies. Iowa State is widely recognized for its programs in agronomy, seed science, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering and statistics. Iowa State is uniquely positioned to become a world-class plant science center and to help Iowa become the food capital of the world.