page_title: Midreshet Ben-Gurion
section_title: Agricultural and biotechnology research
hierarchical_section_title: Midreshet Ben-Gurion / Agricultural and biotechnology research
caption_attribution_description: English: Panorama nearby Sde Boker
context_page_description: Midreshet Ben-Gurion, also known as Midreshet Sde Boker, is an educational center and boarding school in southern Israel. Located in the Negev next to kibbutz Sde Boker, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council. In 2018 it had a population of 1,961.
context_section_description: Researchers at Midreshet Ben-Gurion have made breakthroughs in agriculture and biotechnology relevant to drylands and sustainable agriculture. The STRS1 and STRS2 genes, master controller genes in stress responses, discovered by Dr. Simon Barak and his students in 2006, helped to elucidate some of the more important genes involved with abiotic stress responses 
  Director of the institutes, Avigad Vonshak, made headlines for his discovery, together with Prof. Sammy Boussiba (also of the institutes) of astaxanthin accumulation in green algae. Astaxanthin is an extremely valuable poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) which is valued for its use as a pigment, nutritional value, and possible use in bio-diesel.
caption: Panorama of Zin canyon from Midreshet Ben-Gurion on a rare cloudy day (most days are clear because of the arid climate)
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