New University of Delaware faculty member Jesus Beltran grew up in a small town in Columbia. He was always fascinated by nature and agriculture. The South American city depended on coffee plantations, fruits and vegetables to boost employment and the local economy. Spending school holidays on farms sparked Beltran’s fascination with living things, possibly influencing his decision to study biology.
As his career unfolded, Beltran realized the importance and lack of access many people had to fruits and vegetables in certain regions of the world. Early in his career, Beltran interned at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. He worked to improve the pro-vitamin A content of cassava plants so that people living in the tropics could have access.
“It’s a global problem,” said Beltran, an assistant professor of plant and synthetic biology in UD’s Department of Plant and Earth Sciences. “There is a lack of this vitamin in many populations. And this deficiency causes disease.”
Beltran is interested in all things related to plant engineering. As a faculty member, he applies the knowledge and passion he has developed for his hometown’s agriculture to various types of plants.
Breeding plants requires a deep understanding of how they work, a complex process.
During Beltran’s Ph.D. in the USA, he studied the functional mechanism of a new carotenoid enzyme from maize, which is now a candidate for metabolic engineering.
“I believe that the combination of basic and applied research will ultimately drive innovation and drive the bioeconomy in a sustainable way,” Beltran said. “By understanding how plants regulate metabolic pathways, we can better position ourselves to make crops more nutritious and resilient.”
Beltran joined the UD College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in July 2023. He delves into the genetics that make plants act the way they do. It teaches students the basics of plant evolution as well as the concept of genetically engineered plants.
“I think it impresses students when they realize that plants can be reprogrammed,” Beltran said, “that we can improve plants for the good of people and for the good of the environment.”
Plants find it difficult to cope with drastic changes in the environment, from large temperature fluctuations, floods and droughts. But Beltran said there is a solution: To create seeds with certain traits that can help plants tolerate the range of challenges posed by climate change.
“If there’s not enough water, plants have to process that information and change the function of their genes, cells and biochemical pathways so they can tolerate that stress,” Beltran said. “What we’re trying to do is use synthetic biological tools of plants so that we’re able to engineer those modules that already exist in plants, or create new modules in order to give plants new capabilities “.
Ultimately, Beltran said, engineering these changes gives plants more of a chance to withstand those stressors.
The ultimate goal? To engineer seeds that are a good marketer.
“The more traits we can create in a single plant, the better,” Beltran said.
Beltran, who runs his lab out of the Delaware Institute of Biotechnology’s STAR campus, designs “gene expression circuits,” which are essentially impulses that can control cell behaviors. Once those circuits are incorporated into plants, they change the plants’ behavior in the way Beltran wants. The Delaware Institute of Biotechnology gives him the state-of-the-art labs and equipment he needs to engineer plant biology.
“This year, we set up our lab at the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center (nicknamed AP-BIO) and started collaborations,” Beltran said. “I am thrilled to be a part of the outstanding Department of Plant and Earth Sciences and look forward to contributing to its continued growth and profound impact on our communities. Delaware has a strong agricultural economy, which is why we are here developing innovative solutions.”
This past semester, Beltran taught graduate students Botany II (PLSC 201), teaching them about plant diversity and how different plants evolve. In the fall, he is excited to teach Plant Synthetic Biology (PLSC 467) to both undergraduate and graduate students. Students enrolled in the lecture-based course will learn all about genetic engineering to solve problems with plants.
“The course provides students with a theoretical framework that will be useful as they try to identify future careers,” Beltran said. “The agricultural industry is looking for biotechnological solutions. This course can put them in a position where they can discuss those high-tech projects.”
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