  The maximal minors of a p by (m + p) matrix of univariate polynomials of
degree n with indeterminate coefficients are themselves polynomials of degree
np. The subalgebra generated by their coefficients is the coordinate ring of
the quantum Grassmannian, a singular compactification of the space of rational
curves of degree np in the Grassmannian of p-planes in (m + p)-space. These
subalgebra generators are shown to form a sagbi basis. The resulting flat
deformation from the quantum Grassmannian to a toric variety gives a new
`Gr\"obner basis style' proof of the Ravi-Rosenthal-Wang formulas in quantum
Schubert calculus. The coordinate ring of the quantum Grassmannian is an
algebra with straightening law, which is normal, Cohen-Macaulay, Gorenstein and
Koszul, and the ideal of quantum Pl\"ucker relations has a quadratic Gr\"obner
basis. This holds more generally for skew quantum Schubert varieties. These
results are well-known for the classical Schubert varieties (n=0). We also show
that the row-consecutive p by p-minors of a generic matrix form a sagbi basis
and we give a quadratic Gr\"obner basis for their algebraic relations.
