B.S. (Horticulture), M.S. (Plant Breeding/Genetics), Ph.D. (Plant Breeding/Genetics)
Geneticist, President and Senior Research Associate

As a Cornell University professor for over 25 years, John conducted plant genetics research that resulted in new crop varieties, more than 80 scientific publications, and 30 patents. A large fraction of the transgenic crops grown in the world today utilize the biolistic “gene gun” process of which John was the primary inventor. John feels his most significant contribution to science was his leadership in the development of Mendel’s Accountant, the world’s first biologically realistic genetic accounting program. Second in significance to this was his authoring of the book, Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome. John continues to hold the position of Courtesy Associate Professor at Cornell.

Selected papers by John Sanford:

• The Development of the Biolistic Process
• Mendel’s Accountant
• Using Numerical Simulation to Test the Validity of Neo-Darwinian Theory
• Mendel’s Accountant: A Biologically Realistic Forward-Time Population Genetics Program
• Mendel’s Accountant: A New Population Genetics Simulation Tool for Studying Mutation and Natural Selection
• Using computer Simulation to Understand Mutation Accumulation Dynamics and Genetic Load

See Also

• About John Sanford (via Cornell University Faculty Website)
• John Sanford’s Publications (Cornell University faculty website)

Selected Books