Dr. Anne-Marie Stomp

Dr. Anne-Marie Stomp, associate professor of forestry at NC State, developed the first procedure to engineer duckweed genetically to produce therapeutic proteins such as insulin. She has started a biotechnology company called Biolex, Inc., to market this new, less expensive, and very consistent technology. The start-up of Biolex was partially funded by the NC State-affiliated Centennial Venture Partners, which provides venture capital funding to growing high-tech businesses connected with the university. Stomp says of the process and company, "Biolex is going to turn this small aquatic plant that is considered a weed into the premier protein production system of the twenty-first century."