MSU Research History
Historic discoveries at MSU include the research that led to the development of hybrid corn and the process still used for the homogenization of milk. In addition, MSU researchers developed the platinum-based compounds cisplatin and carboplatin, which lead all other anticancer drugs in sales and have saved tens of thousands of lives in the treatment of certain cancers. Much of the information below comes from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Research History. Other sources of research history include MSU decade-by-decade and a video, The Great Experiment: MSU, the Pioneer Land Grant University.
Some Historic Highlights
Robert C. Kedzie, M.D., was one of MSU's earliest researchers. He began teaching chemistry at what was then the State Agricultural College in 1863 and developed a research program that helped start the Michigan sugar beet industry, protect consumers from volatile kerosene, eliminate trade in arsenic-laden wallpaper, and encourage planting trees along state highways. He served as a state legislator and as chairman of the State Board of Public Health and was the father of Frank Kedzie, who served as president of MSU from 1915 to 1921.
Botany professor W. J. Beal established the first laboratory in the country devoted to the study and teaching of botany and was the first person to cross-fertilize corn to increase yields. The gardens that he established in 1873 for teaching and research are still in use. In 1879 he buried 20 bottles, each with 1,050 seeds from 21 species, instructing that one be dug up periodically to test the seeds. In 1999, 120 years into the world's longest running seed germination experiment, plant biologists Frank Telewski and Jan Zeevaart unearthed bottle number 15 and planted the seeds. Two species, moth mullein and cheeses, grew. Beal's text, Grasses of North America, was the standard for many years. He also revolutionized teaching by reducing dependence on lectures and having students conduct experiments. He served on the faculty from 1870 to 1910.
In the early 1900s, Charles E. Marshall was the first in the state to produce hog cholera serum. Charles Edward Marshall Hall, constructed in 1902, was the first campus building built for bacteriology research and teaching. It is named for its designer, who served as chairman of bacteriology. Marshall Hall now houses the Department of Economics.
In 1913 the Dairy Section of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) initiated research into farm management with a study of the cost of milk production.
The first plant breeder hired by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, Dr. F. A. Spragg, released the first navy bean variety, Robust, in 1915. Forty varieties of beans in eight commercial classes were developed at MSU and released during the 20th century.
In 1920 the new Economics Department initiated research on rural taxation.
Dwight Ewing, chemistry professor, discovered a practical method of chromium plating in the 1920s.
When Marie Dye joined the MSU faculty in 1922 after receiving the Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of Chicago, one of the first things she did was begin a research program in home economics using her experience in basal metabolism studies as a model. She became dean of the College of Home Economics in 1929. By the time she retired in 1957, graduate enrollment in the college had increased from 5 to 98.
In the 1930s, C.M. Harrison and H.C. Rather were the first in America to combine bromegrass and alfalfa into a pasture mixture. It is still the most popular pasture mixture.
Research in the 1930s by dairy industry pioneer G. Malcolm Trout showed the effects of homogenization on the chemical and physical properties of milk.
Forrest Huddleston achieved international acclaim for his research on brucellosis (undulant fever) in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his graduate students, Alfred Day Hershey (Ph.D. chemistry, 1934), shared the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1969. Hershey's discovery (he conducted the famous Waring blender experiment) in 1952 at Cold Spring Harbor in New York that DNA is the molecule of heredity revolutionized molecular biology. Hershey died May 22, 1997.
Steven Dexter's 1946 discovery of a way to maintain optimal moisture content in corn for popping revolutionized the popcorn industry.
In 1948 the Public Policy Extension Education project (probably the first at a land-grant college) conducted a study of "Market Price Analysis and Economic Education for Agriculture" funded by the congressional Research and Marketing Act.
In the 1950s, kinesiology professors Henry Montoye and Wayne Van Huss set up a dummy and a machine that gyrated a football helmet so they could gauge the effects of impacts on a head.
In the 1950s, S.K. Ries and B.A. Stout received the first patent on a harvester for once-over tomato harvesting.
In 1953 Warren A. Vincent initiated electronic data processing as a farm management research project involving mail-in farm records from 100 Ingham County farmers.
In the late 1960s chemistry professor Barnett Rosenberg and colleagues Loretta VanCamp and Thomas Krigas discovered that cancer and leukemia can be retarded and blocked by certain platinum compounds. From this research came cisplatin, one of the most successful cancer treatments.
Horticulturist C.E. Peterson developed the first hybrid pickling cucumber in 1960. Soon afterwards, agricultural engineers invented the first mechanical harvester for pickling cucumbers.
In the 1960s, S.H. Wittwer and Wm. Robb were the first in America to demonstrate that carbon dioxide is a factor in the growth of greenhouse vegetables.
In the 1960s, MSU pioneered pest control monitoring, allowing farmers to secure satisfactory pest control while providing safer, high quality food products.
In the early 1970s, Janet Wessel, kinesiology, received the first U.S. Department of Education grant ever issued for research on physical education for students with special needs. The curriculum she developed remains in use.
USDA poultry researchers, in cooperation with MAES scientists, developed the first cancer vaccine in 1970 for Marek's disease.
Horticulturist Shigemi Honma developed the self-blanching cauliflower in the 1970s. The developing head wraps in leaves so it stays white.
In the 1980s, MAES agricultural engineers designed a sprayer that sandwiches a curtain of chemicals between two high-speed air streams, reducing the drift of chemicals into non-target areas.
In the 1980s, an MAES researcher discovered that secretions from the white rot fungus could break down toxic waste into harmless chemicals.
In the 1980s, mechanical engineering professor Robert Hubbard developed the HANS head and neck support, which restrains the helmet and head relative to the shoulders and effectively reduces the head motions and neck tensions that injure race car drivers.
In 1987, astronomer Susan Simkin was part of the team that discovered the largest galaxy known at that time--1.3 million light years in diameter.
The sand/manure separator developed in the 1990s allows farmers to separate sand (used for dairy cow bedding) from manure (used for fertilizer) without causing excess wear on farm machinery.
In the 1990s, MAES packaging engineer Paul Singh developed a new raspberry container that improves the quality of berries that reach the market.
In the 1990s, Stephen Boyd, MAES crop and soil sciences researcher, developed a method of treating contaminated groundwater using clay.
In the 1990s, chemical engineering professor Kris Berglund developed a sodium-free salt substitute that looks and tastes like real salt.