Benjamin Minge Duggar

views updated

Benjamin Minge Duggar

1872-1956

American botanist who developed antibiotics from fungi. Duggar earned a Cornell University doctorate, studying plants without seeds or flowers, such as mosses and ferns. He conducted laboratory work in Germany regarding spore germination and developed a graduate program at the University of Wisconsin, encouraging interdisciplinary botanical research and unique applications of plant science. He focused on how radiation affects plants. After his forced retirement at age seventy, Duggar worked as a consultant for corporations, assisting in the derivation of penicillin substitutes from plants.

About this article

Benjamin Minge Duggar

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article