Dr. Zaitlin holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Arizona. He received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. He did postdoctoral work at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell and with Dr. Lawrence Bogorad at Harvard University. Dr. Zaitlin began his career at a plant biotech firm called Sungene in San Jose, Calif. In addition, he led a research study in the use of molecular markers to map genes for fungal leaf blight resistance in maize at Agrigenetics, a company based in Madison, Wisc. Dr. Zaitlin also worked at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and most recently at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh.

A primary research direction of Tobacco Genomics involves breeding plant varieties for use in 'molecular farming' applications. Our team is developing plants that can be readily transformed with genes of commercial interest, which in turn will express these genes at desired levels in the field.

It is of critical importance that the plant varieties be compatible with current Kentucky tobacco agronomic practices, and also that they do not resemble tobacco grown for smoking purposes. To achieve this "identity preservation," some exotic species of Nicotiana are being incorporated into the program. We aim to have varieties that are resistant to several important diseases of tobacco, that grow well in Kentucky soils, and that produce a large amount of leaf tissue with several harvests during the growing season. The group also hopes to incorporate cold tolerance and drought resistance in these hybrids.