Richard A. Jorgensen

Richard "Rich" A. Jorgensen is an American molecular geneticist and an early pioneer in the study of post transcriptional gene silencing.

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His and Dr. Carolyn Napoli's observations of pigment gene 'cosuppression' in Petunia flowers are examples of post transcriptional gene silencing that predated the discovery of RNAi and contribute to the current understanding of the commonality of RNA-mediated gene silencing in eukaryotes. Their initial observations were made while working at the U.S. biotech company DNA Plant Technology Inc. and form part of the basis of a number of U.S. patents on gene regulation and crop manipulation.

Jorgensen holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering and a M.S. in chemistry from Northwestern University. In 1978, he received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jorgensen is currently associate professor at the University of Arizona and editor in chief of The Plant Cell.