Dr. Kutty Kartha

Director General, NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute

Dr. Kutty Kartha, Director General of the Plant Biotechnology Institute, holds a M.Sc in Agriculture from Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University and a Ph.D. (Plant Pathology - virology) from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, India.

Following a post doctoral fellowship at INRA in France, Dr. Kartha came to the NRC, Saskatoon as a visiting scientist in 1973. From 1974-1985 he was a Research Officer and in 1985 Dr. Kartha was appointed head of the Cereal Biotechnology Group. He bcame a Research Director in 1993 and was appointed to his current position in 1995.

An area of interest to Dr. Kartha is plant biotechnology including pioneering work on genetic engineering of wheat and production of herbicide-resistant transgenic wheat. He has authored or co-authored over 140 scientific research publications.