John E. Franz, who was born on December 21, 1929 (82 yrs old) - from Springfield, Illinois Residence: Crestwood, Missouri - Nationality - United States
Fields: Bio-Organic Chemistry
Known for Inventor of Roundup
Notable awards National Medal of Technology, Carothers Award, Perkins Medal
John E. Franz is an organic chemist who discovered the herbicide glyphosate while working at Monsanto Company in 1970. The chemical became the active ingredient in Roundup, a broad-spectrum, post-emergence herbicide. This discovery had an incredible effect on the agricultural community, allowing farmers (as well as average homeowners) to easily and effectively control the growth of weeds. Franz has earned much acclaim and many rewards for this breakthrough. He also has over 840 patents to his name worldwide.
This came from http://en.wikipedia.org. It's very intriguing.
Discovery of Glyphosate
Researchers at Monsanto had been searching for a herbicide that was effective against annual and perennial weeds for nine years but found little success. They knew of two phosphonic acid compounds that were ineffective against weeds, and the researchers were not able to advance the compounds. Franz took over the research in 1969 and incorrectly hypothesized that the phosphonic acids acted as proherbicides that were metabolized to active compounds rather than herbicides. Franz and his research team screened possible metabolites and synthesized compounds and eventually discovered glyphosate in 1970.Although all of the patents regarding glyphosate list Franz as the sole inventor and the Monsanto Company as the assignee, Franz acknowledged that the discovery was a group effort. In 2007, when he was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame, Franz said, “It's a recognition of the entire team of scientists who worked on and supported the development of Roundup herbicides". Glyphosate works by absortion through leaves, and then moving rapidly to a plant’s roots, rhizomes, and meristems. This invaluable breakthrough immediately spurred Monsanto to design and produce plants genetically immune to glyphosates in order to make it easier for farmers to thoroughly spray down their fields for weeds without killing their own crops.
Once glyphosate was invented, it took four years to reach the market. It was first introduced as "Roundup", and is still best known by that brand. One brand of glyphosate-based herbicide, AquaMaster, is approved to kill plants in water. Various brands of the herbicide are marketed to backyard farmers, maintenance crews, and professional farmers alike. Pure glyphosate is an acid, but is usually sold as an isopropylamine salt. On the market, it is commonly found as a water-soluble concentrate or as a powder paired with a surfactant such as polyethoxethyleneamine. The surfactant helps the herbicide penetrate the plant cells more easily. Technical grade glyphosate is an odorless white crystalline powder, and by itself has low mammalian toxicity. Increasingly, there have been reports of Roundup having harmful effects on humans. The combination of glyphosate and a surfactant has been found toxic to human placental cells in vitro. Roundup concentrate has been ingested in multiple suicide attempts in Japan, some of which have been successful.
To read more, check out this article on wikipedia at the above address.
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