William H. R. Langridge, PhD

I received my Doctoral Degree in Biological Chemistry in 1973, from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, where I isolated and purified a novel mitochondrial glutamate dehydrogenase that permits Dictyostelium discoidium amoebae to differentiate into a multicellular organism. During my Post Doctoral research at the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, From 1974‑1977, I studied molecular mechanisms underlying baculovirus and insect pox virus multiplication in vitro and in vivo where I identified and characterized early and late viral proteins synthesized during virus multiplication and was among the first molecular biologists to physically map the baculovirus and insect pox virus genomes. As Assistant Professor in the Boyce Thompson Institute from 1977-1987, I developed and patented electroporation as a method for transfer and stable integration of foreign genes into the genome of higher plants. As Associate Professor in the University of Alberta in Edmonton, from 1987-1993, I combined plant cell transformation, light emitting reporter gene (luciferase) expression and low light image analysis methods to identify plant hormone (auxin) transport during plant morphogenesis and  in response to bacterial pathogenesis. After moving to Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1993 as a professor in the basic sciences, our group pioneered development of edible plants as vehicles for the production of human milk proteins beta casein and lactoferrin for improved infant formula nutrition and protection against infectious diseases. From 1996 to the present, we have expanded our mucosal vaccine research to include bacteria and vaccinia virus production and delivery systems for enhancement of antigen and autoantigen immune protection against infection, autoimmunity and cancer.