Jonathan Gressel

In 2008 Jonathan Gressel co-founded the company TransAlgae.

In 2008, Gressel published Genetic Glass Ceilings: Transgenics for Crop Biodiversity, a careful, detailed, and passionate examination of the possible application of plant sciences such as molecular biology and transgenics to worldwide agricultural policies. He discusses the limitations and possible genetic modification of fourteen underutilised crops. He describes ways in which plant sciences could be used to expand biodiversity, address agricultural problems, and protect the environment.

In 2008 Jonathan Gressel co-founded TransAlgae, with his son, Noam Gressel and others. His goal was to develop genetically modified algae for growth in customized indoor and outdoor reactors that would be resistant to colonization and take-over by other types of algae and bacteria. The genetically designed algae, along with its optimal medium and growing system, could be specialized for a particular partner. To address limitations in water availability, the systems are designed to work with either fresh water or sea water. In the event of an accidental release, the algae were designed to die within a few hours, to prevent their escape into the wild. Possible applications of specialized algae include feedstocks for biofuels, animal feed, and drug delivery. Gressel has applied for or received at least 21 patents.

Another area of Gressels's research concerns the evolution of volunteers (plants that germinate in later years, after a crop has been harvested) and feral plants (derived from crops that have become de-domesticated). Understanding processes in the domestication and de-domestication of crops is particularly important as scientists develop and commercialize transgenic crops. In 2005, Gressel edited Crop ferality and volunteerism, the first book published on the topic.

Gressel has extensively studied weed control practices, with particular attention to developing countries where farmers may not have the resources to buy and use expensive herbicides. Herbicide rotation is one type of management practice that may slow the evolution of herbicide-resistant plants. In Molecular biology of weed control (2002) Gressel also reviews possible approaches such as the development of plant species that can produce their own weed-killing allelochemicals and the development of insects and plant pathogens that can act as biological control agents by targeting herbicide-resistant weeds.

Gressel belongs to the American Society of Plant Biologists, the International Weed Science Society, and Sigma Xi. He is an Honorary member of the Weed Science Society of America. He served as president of the International Weed Science Society from 1997-1999.

Gressel and Segel's earliest models are relatively simple, and tend to predict pessimistic outcomes for the evolution and management of resistance. Their later models are more complex and suggest a variety of options for managing herbicide resistance. In 1991, Gressel reported a number of characteristics that tend to be associated with plants that develop herbicide resistance: 1) Herbaceous annuals 2) Self-fertile 3) Found in agricultural habitats 4) Colonisers 5) High reproductive capacity 6) Complex genetic variability (polymorphic phenotypes)

Jonathan Gressel and Lee Segel developed the first simulation model for the development of resistance to herbicides, later modifying and expanding it. Their models have been widely used to predict and study the possible evolution of herbicide resistance. In 1982, Gressel and Homer LeBaron edited the first book to be published on Herbicide Resistance in Plants.

Gressel has published more than 300 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and eight books. His Herbicide resistance in plants (1982) and Crop ferality and volunteerism (2005) are the first books on those topics.

Gressel joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, in 1962, working in the biochemistry department. In 1963 he moved to the Plant Genetics Department (later the Department of Plant and Environmental Science.) For a number of years, he held the Gilbert de Botton Chair of Plant Sciences. As of 2005, he became a professor emeritus at the Weizmann Institute.

Gressel completed his secondary education at Pardes Hanna Agricultural High School in Israel in 1955. He returned to the United States, where he earned his B.Sc. in Plant Sciences at Ohio State University. He then attended the University of Wisconsin where he obtained his master's degree in Botany (Plant Physiology) in 1957, working with Folke K. Skoog, and his Ph.D. degree in 1962 working with LeRoy G. Holm, Eldon H. Newcomb, and R. H. Burris.

Jonathan Gressel (born October 30, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an Israeli agricultural scientist and Professor Emeritus at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Gressel is a "strong proponent of using modern genetic techniques to improve agriculture" especially in third world and developing countries such as Africa. In 2010, Gressel received Israel's highest civilian award, the Israel Prize, for his work in agriculture

Jonathan Ben Gressel were born on October 30, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and immigrated to Israel with his family, making aliyah in 1950 at the age of 14.