John C. Sanford

Dr. John Sanford has been a Cornell University Professor for more than 30 years. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in the area of plant breeding and plant genetics. While a professor at Cornell, John trained graduate students and conducted genetic research at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.

At Cornell, John bred new crop varieties using conventional breeding and then became heavily involved in the newly-emerging field of plant genetic engineering. John has published over 100 scientific publications and has been granted several dozen patents. His most significant scientific contributions during the first half of his career involved three inventions: the biolistic ("gene gun") process, pathogen-derived resistance, and genetic immunization. A large fraction of the transgenic crops (in terms of numbers and acreage) grown in the world today were genetically engineered using the gene gun technology developed by John and his collaborators. John also started two biotech enterprises derived from his research, Biolistics, Inc., and Sanford Scientific, Inc.

John still holds a position at Cornell (Courtesy Associate Professor), but has largely retired from Cornell and has started a small non-profit organization, Feed My Sheep Foundation (FMS). Through FMS, John has conducted research in the areas of theoretical genetics and bioinformatics for the last 14 years. With a qualified team of researchers, John produced a state-of-the-art numerical simulation program called Mendel’s Account. Mendel’s Account is the first comprehensive, biologically realistic numerical simulation of the mutation/selection process. This program tracks mutations as they accumulate in digital populations in a biologically realistic manner. It is an essential tool for understanding the limits of the Darwinian process. Mendel’s Accountant can be freely downloaded at MendelsAccountant.info. John is also working with Ratio Christi (ratiochristi.org/), where he is involved in Christian apologetics. John is also President of Logos Research Associates (see http://www.logosresearchassociates.org/). John’s scientific publications are listed at http://hort.cals.cornell.edu/people/john-sanford.