The St. Louis region is increasingly being recognized as the BioBelt - a world-class center for plant and life sciences research, investment and business opportunity. In addition to Monsanto's extensive research programs at the Chesterfield Village and Creve Coeur locations, there are a large number of educational institutions, scientific organizations, business groups and trade associations that are the dynamic infrastructure of the BioBelt. Here are links to just a few of them:

The BioBelt home page is maintained by the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association, and provides an overview of St. Louis and the biological sciences.

The Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise is a business incubator for start-up and early-stage life sciences companies.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis has established graduate and undergraduate certificate programs in biotechnology, and also offers a Ph.D. program in cellular, molecular and development biology. This site also contains a link to the university's International Center for Tropical Ecology, which promotes education and research in tropical biology, conservation and the sustainable use of tropical ecosystems.

The Washington University Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences site describes graduate and undergraduate programs, current seminars and related information. The university's Department of Biomedical Engineering (http://biomed.wustl.edu) offers programs for graduate and undergraduate students.

The St. Louis University Department of Biology web site describes graduate and undergraduate programs, research resources, and biology courses with web-based resources.

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville's Department of Biological Sciences describes courses offered, undergraduate specializations (including genetic engineering) , the graduate student program and research links.

The University of Missouri at Columbia's Division of Biological Sciences lists graduate and undergraduate programs, faculty research, outreach and events.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a world-class display garden, arboretum and research institution, specializing in tropical ecosystem plant research.

Founded in 1856, the mission of the Academy of Sciences of St. Louis is to increase public knowledge of science, provide a forum for collaboration, stimulate scientific exchanges and support science education. This site also has links to the Junior Academy and information on the Greater St. Louis Science Fair.

St. Louis is the world headquarters for two major commodity crop associations - the National Corn Growers Association and the American Soybean Association.

For more information on the Bio Belt, contact Jim Alexander at (314) 444-1135 or jalexander@stlrcga.org or Steve Johnson at (314) 444-1140 or sjohnson@stlrcga.org