Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

German scientist flourishes as Noble researcher

Get in Touch

By Jim Stafford

Copyright © 2013, The Oklahoma Publishing Company

Long before Wolf Scheible accepted a position as principal investigator for The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in 2012, he knew the Foundation by its reputation for groundbreaking work in plant genomics.

“The Noble Foundation is known all over the world for its plant research,” Scheible told me during a visit to the Ardmore campus. “The Foundation offers researchers so many advantages — tremendous facilities, unparalleled support and two other divisions that can move research from the laboratory to the field.”

A native of Germany, Scheible is a biochemist and molecular biologist who established his own reputation for world class research as a scientist in the Max Planck Society, the country’s most prestigious research institution.

Scheible’s journey to Ardmore was influenced by a former Max Planck colleague, Michael Udvardi, who made the move to the Noble Foundation in 2006. Udvardi is now the director of the Noble Foundation’s Plant Biology Division.

“Michael is my good friend,” Scheible said. “We had a lot of common interests, and we published many papers together.”

Scheible’s research focuses on how plants efficiently use nutrients, especially phosphorous. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg and served a post-doctorate fellowship at Stanford University in the late 1990s.

“Phosphorous is an essential element for life”, Scheible said. “There is no other element on the planet that can replace phosphorous and you can’t produce food without it. And phosphorous is in short supply.”

Scheible called the shrinking supply of phosphorous a crisis for every person in the world, whether they know it or not. Most Americans only know of phosphorous because they see it on the fertilizer aisle at their local lawn supply store.

Phosphorous is produced through the mining of phosphate rock. The Global Phosphorous Research Institute estimates that mining can only produce enough easily accessible phosphorous to meet demand for another 30-40 years.

At the same time, the world’s population is projected to grow from 7 billion to 9 billion within the next 40 years. How will farmers grow enough food without sufficient access to the phosphorous needed to sustain life?

It’s up to scientists like Scheible to determine how plants use phosphorous and engineer new plants that can use it more efficiently.

Scheible searches for ways that plants signal that bigger root or bigger leaves are needed. The next step would be to control that process so that plants would need less nutrients such as phosphorous or nitrogen to thrive.

“If you can identify a specific regulatory molecule which is important for changing root growth, then we can change the root system,” he said. ““We basically want to generate desired root traits that can benefit agriculture.”

Scheible directs a state-of-the-art laboratory with five group members all focused on the same mission. “This is a fantastic place to work,” Scheible said.

Jim Stafford is a communications specialist with i2E Inc. in Oklahoma City.

Click here to read the article at newsok.com

More News

Loading...
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.25.25

Oklahoma Collegiate Entrepreneurs Take Home Over $167K at Entrepreneur’s Cup

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
12.16.24

MidAmerica and i2E Announce Award Winners

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
11.21.24

i2E & Plains Ventures Surpasses $100M Milestone in Total Investments

Read more
Blog
09.30.24

i2E Receives 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Award from IEDC

Read more
Blog
06.18.24

Bridge2 Demo Day Returns, Highlighting Promising Oklahoma Startups

Read more
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
05.13.24

Student Entrepreneurs Triumph at 20th Anniversary Entrepreneur’s Cup, Winning $158,000 in Prizes

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.24.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Jessica Kinsey

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Nathan Fountain

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Srijita Ghosh

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.18.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – MaxQ

Read more
Blog, i2E
01.30.24

i2E Celebrates Success of Inaugural Bridge2 Demo Day

Read more
Blog, i2E, News
12.18.23

i2E and MidAmerica Industrial Park announce award winners for high school entrepreneurship program

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

201 Robert S Kerr Ave, Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

12 N. Cheyenne Ave, Suite 112
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Funding
  • Venture Advisory

© 2025 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Linkedin Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube

Programs

  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E