About the Danforth Center

The mission of The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is to improve the human condition through plant science:

  • Feed the hungry and improve human health.
  • Preserve and renew our environment.
  • Enhance the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is the world's largest nonprofit research institute dedicated to plant science.

We believe that plants hold the key to discoveries and products that will enrich and restore both the environment and the lives of people around the globe. Center scientists strive to reduce the burden of hunger and malnutrition in developing countries as well as to improve human health both at home and abroad.

Research at the Danforth Center will enhance the nutritional content of plants to improve human health, increase agricultural production to create a sustainable food supply, create new sources of sustainable biofuels, and provide the scientific ideas and technologies that will contribute to the economic growth of the St. Louis region and the State of Missouri.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center includes several core facilities, including the Institute for International Crop Improvement, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels, and technologies like the Bellwether Foundation Phenotyping Facility. The Center anchors the new innovation ecosystem, 39 North.

For more information about Danforth Center scientists, our research, public events, and education and outreach, please visit our website at danforthcenter.org.