In 1997 Ming-Bo Wang and fellow CSIRO Plant Industry research scientist Peter Waterhouse discovered the process for 'silencing' genes in plants, thus opening up the ability to decode the different uses of each gene and modify the genes of plants for various purposes. For this discovery, the two won the 2007 Prime Minister's Prize for Science.Wang moved to Australia in 1994 to take up a postdoctoral position with Waterhouse, and by 2009 was a Principal Research Scientist in the Plant Industry division, leading research into plant RNA silencing and its possible implications.