History and evolution of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology (IAPB): 1963–2008

The International Association for Plant Biotechnology (IAPB) was founded in 1963 at the first truly international conference on plant tissue culture, which was organized by Philip R. White. White was a devoted internationalist and was strongly committed to global scientific cooperation. He felt that the time had come for the international tissue culture community to organize so that it could meet regularly and provide a forum to its members for the exchange of ideas and information of mutual interest and use. The various activities of the IAPB since its founding—the publication of its newsletter, its journal, and the proceedings of its quadrennial congresses—faithfully document the remarkable advances in plant biotechnology that were made possible by the successful integration of tissue culture and molecular biology. In particular, the congress proceedings serve as time capsules, providing a wealth of information about the best of science and the most prominent scientists of the time. The history of the IAPB is indeed the history of plant biotechnology.