Scientific Advisory Panel

FuturaGene has formed a distinguished panel of scientific advisors who are internationally recognized for their expertise and invaluable contributions in plant biology, physiology and pathology as well as breeding agronomy and genomics.

Professor Marc Van Montagu, Belgian
Professor Van Montagu is an Emeritus Professor at Gent University and is the founder and chairman of the Board of the Institute for Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries (IPBO), Ghent University in Belgium.

Professor Van Montagu obtained his M.Sc. in Chemistry and Organic Chemistry and a PhD in Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry from Ghent University.

Professor Van Montagu is one of the pioneers of the enhancement of agronomic properties of plants through genetic engineering, where his contributions have included the discovery of the gene transfer mechanism between Agobacterium tumefaciens and plants, which is fundamental for introducing novel genes into plant cells. He was also responsible for the construction of the first plants with insect resistance by expression of Bt genes and the first herbicide tolerant plants.

Through his career, Professor Van Montagu has held many university positions, has founded and served as Scientific Director or Scientific Advisor at many leading plant biotech companies, as well as advisor to leading institutes and universities in the plant sciences arena. Professor Van Montagu has also served in key Science Policy positions, including the Presidency of the European Federation of Biotechnology.

Professor Van Montagu has published approximately 600 peer reviewed articles, as well as hundreds of book chapters and additional publications. He has received multiple awards, honors and prizes, including the title of Baron from King Baudouin of Belgium, the prestigious Japan prize and six honorary doctorates, as well as multiple honors from various national academies of science. He is a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, a member of the Academy of Agriculture of Russia and France, the Academy of Engineering of Sweden, the Third World Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Marc Van Montagu, one of the pioneers in the genetic enhancement of plants, is committed to the use and transfer of this technology to developing countries to underpin sustainable development and provide food security and socio-economic development. His involvement as a scientific advisor for FuturaGene will not only aid the company in anticipating technology trends, but also facilitate the application of the company’s technologies in the furtherance of sustainable intensification of plantation forestry and agriculture.

Professor Oded Shoseyov
Prof. Shoseyov is a faculty member of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prof. Shoseyov's research is in plant molecular biology and biotechnology. He has extensive experience with genetic engineering of plants, protein engineering and nanobiotechnology. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific publications and is the inventor or co-inventor of 18 patents. Prof. Shoseyov received the Outstanding Scientist Polak Award for 2002, and the 1999 Kay Award for Innovative and Applied Research. He is the scientific founder of CBD Technologies Ltd., the predecessor company to FuturaGene, co-founder of Fulcrum-SP Ltd., a nanobiotechnology company and Collplant Ltd., an agro-biotech company that produces human recombinant collagen in tobacco. He holds a Ph.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Mr. Shinitiro Oda
Mr. Oda is a world renowned eucalyptus breeder and plantation forestry specialist. He began his career at Suzano Papel e Celulose in 1972 and has developed and led programs in forest management, breeding, hybridization and cloning with important results in increased productivity in major commercial forest plantations. He participated in the multinational eucalyptus genome sequencing project and was a key part of the breeding team that developed the clone which was used for this program. He holds a first degree in agronomy from the University of São Paulo, Piracicaba and an M.Sc. from the Federal University of Lavras, Minas Gerais.