![Alex Ogbonna Wins Borlaug Scholar Award from NAPB](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/new5_cropsquare.jpg)
![Alex Ogbonna Wins Borlaug Scholar Award from NAPB](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/new5_cropsquare.jpg)
![Sarah Evanega Joins BTI Faculty](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/123123123132132.jpg)
Sarah Evanega Joins BTI Faculty
Boyce Thompson Institute is pleased to welcome Professor Sarah Evanega as the newest addition to our faculty. Sarah is a science communicator whose research and outreach efforts focus on the nexus of plant science and society, and strive to ensure that plant science...![BTI Welcomes Summer Student Interns](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-Interns-1080x675.jpg)
BTI Welcomes Summer Student Interns
On June 1, Boyce Thompson Institute welcomed 28 of the country’s brightest undergraduate students from universities around the country to experience the life of a researcher for 10 weeks. Seven more interns from local area high schools will join the Institute for six...![New Cyanobacteria Species Spotlights Early Life](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Rahmatpour_et_al1_notext_square-1080x675.jpg)
New Cyanobacteria Species Spotlights Early Life
Cyanobacteria are one of the unsung heroes of life on Earth. They first evolved to perform photosynthesis about 2.4 billion years ago, pumping tons of oxygen into the atmosphere – a period known as the Great Oxygenation Event – which enabled the evolution of...![Sarah Evanega Wins Borlaug CAST Communication Award](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Evanega-bus-pic_square.jpg)
Sarah Evanega Wins Borlaug CAST Communication Award
BTI adjunct faculty member Sarah Evanega has been awarded the coveted Borlaug CAST Communication Award. Evanega is the founding director of the Cornell Alliance for Science, a global communications effort that promotes evidence-informed decision-making across a range...![Fungi could manipulate bacteria to enrich soil with nutrients](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/ERH3_contrast_square.jpg)
Fungi could manipulate bacteria to enrich soil with nutrients
A team of researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) has discovered a distinct group of bacteria that may help fungi and plants acquire soil nutrients. The findings could point the way to cost-effective and eco-friendly methods of enriching soil and improving...![Gene discovery may help peaches tolerate climate stress](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Prunus-mira-near-the-glacier-at-Tibet_colorcorrected_square-1080x675.jpg)
Gene discovery may help peaches tolerate climate stress
A BTI-led team has identified genes enabling peaches and their wild relatives to tolerate stressful conditions – findings that could help the domesticated peach adapt to climate change. The study, co-led by Boyce Thompson Institute faculty member Zhangjun Fei,...![Tomato’s Wild Ancestor Is a Genomic Reservoir for Plant Breeders](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_3329_square-1080x675.jpg)
Tomato’s Wild Ancestor Is a Genomic Reservoir for Plant Breeders
Thousands of years ago, people in the region now known as South America began domesticating Solanum pimpinellifolium, a weedy plant with small, intensely flavored fruit. Over time, the plant evolved into S. lycopersicum – the modern cultivated tomato. Although today’s...![Silk Road Contains Genomic Resources for Improving Apples](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Fei_orchard2_crop1_edit_Square-1080x675.jpg)
Silk Road Contains Genomic Resources for Improving Apples
The fabled Silk Road – the 4,000-mile stretch between China and Western Europe where trade flourished from the second century B.C. to the 14th century A.D. – is responsible for one of our favorite and most valuable fruits: the domesticated apple (Malus domestica)....![Michelle Heck Receives Grant to Study Devastating Crop Viruses](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/6.Heck3_.Michelle_crop_adjusted-1080x675.jpg)
Michelle Heck Receives Grant to Study Devastating Crop Viruses
Plant viruses in the Luteoviridae family devastate many crop varieties, including potatoes, small grains and cotton. The viruses are spread by sap-sucking aphids, which transmit the pathogen into a plant’s vasculature as they feed. Unfortunately, no adequate...![Plant Science Research Network Releases Decadal Vision 2020-2030](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/DV_Mindmap_blue-1080x675.png)
Plant Science Research Network Releases Decadal Vision 2020-2030
Plant science research has tremendous potential to address pressing global issues including climate change, food insecurity and sustainability. However, without sustained investment in plant science, the necessary research to generate innovative discoveries that solve...![Newly Identified Gene Grants Tomatoes Resistance to Bacterial Speck Disease](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Picture1_squarecrop.png)
Newly Identified Gene Grants Tomatoes Resistance to Bacterial Speck Disease
Bacterial speck disease, which reduces both fruit yield and quality, has been a growing problem in tomatoes over the last five years. Because the culpable bacterium, Pseudomonas syringae, prefers a cool and wet climate, crops in places such as New York State have been...![NSF Backs Bioinformatics Approach to Understanding Plant RNA Modifications](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/pic3_edit3_square-1080x675.jpg)
NSF Backs Bioinformatics Approach to Understanding Plant RNA Modifications
RNA perform a variety of functions in cells, helping with everything from regulating genes to building proteins. In recent years, it has become clear that chemical modifications to RNA help guide these functions, but only a handful of these modifications have been...![Magdalena Julkowska Joins BTI as Newest Faculty Member](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0473square_saturated-1080x675.jpg)
Magdalena Julkowska Joins BTI as Newest Faculty Member
Boyce Thompson Institute is excited to welcome Magdalena Julkowska to Ithaca, where she becomes our newest Assistant Professor. Magda’s main research focus is how environmental stress affects plant development and architecture, and she also plans to build an automated...![BTI Awarded Numerous Grants](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/BTIfront_squarecrop.jpg)
BTI Awarded Numerous Grants
While the past few months have disrupted all sense of normalcy, BTI researchers and staff have remained productive while working from home, or as parts of skeleton crews within the building. As the Institute uses a phased approach to slowly reopen our facilities, a...![Congratulations Spring 2020 Graduates!](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/group-pic-2.jpg)
Congratulations Spring 2020 Graduates!
We are pleased to announce that six BTI researchers received their degrees from Cornell University this spring. Congratulations to our newest alumni: Jason Hoki, Schroeder lab, PhD in Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Dissertation title: “Development of...![BTI Graduate Students Receive Schmittau-Novak Grants](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/pics2.jpg)
BTI Graduate Students Receive Schmittau-Novak Grants
We would like to congratulate five BTI graduate students who are Spring 2020 Schmittau-Novak Grants Program recipients. Supported by a bequest from the estate of Jean Schmittau in honor of Joseph Novak, Cornell University Plant Biology Professor Emeritus, the...![Algal genome provides insights into first land plants](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/0519_penium_rotated.jpg)
Algal genome provides insights into first land plants
In order to shift from water to land – a transition that still puzzles scientists – plants had to protect themselves from drying out and from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and they had to develop structures to support themselves without the buoyancy provided by water....![Harnessing Psyllid Peptides to Fight Citrus Greening Disease](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_2964_edit2_square-1080x675.jpg)
Harnessing Psyllid Peptides to Fight Citrus Greening Disease
Citrus greening disease, also called huanglongbing (HLB), is a bacterial infection of citrus trees that results in small, misshapen and sour fruits that are unsuitable for consumption, ultimately killing the tree. Because there is no cure, HLB is a major threat to the...![Wallflowers Could Lead to New Drugs](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Ebaeticum1_s_cropsquare_brightness_contrast-1080x675.jpg)
Wallflowers Could Lead to New Drugs
Plant-derived chemicals called cardenolides have long been used to treat heart disease, and have shown potential as cancer therapies. But the compounds are very toxic, making it difficult for doctors to prescribe a dose that works without harming the patient. For...![Hornwort Genomes Could Lead to Crop Improvement](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Fay-Wei_Li_hornworts5_crop2square-1-1080x675.jpg)
Hornwort Genomes Could Lead to Crop Improvement
Some 500 million years ago – when our continents were likely connected in a single land mass and most life existed underwater – hornworts were one of the first groups of plants to colonize land. But biologists have never understood much about the genetics of these...![Speedy Recovery: New Corn Performs Better in Cold](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/1001_SternRubisco_square.jpg)
Speedy Recovery: New Corn Performs Better in Cold
Nearly everyone on Earth is familiar with corn. Literally. Around the world, each person eats an average of 70 pounds of the grain each year, with even more grown for animal feed and biofuel. And as the global population continues to boom, increasing the amount of...![Plants Found to Speak Roundworm’s Language](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/infested-roots-1.crop1edit-1080x675.jpg)
Plants Found to Speak Roundworm’s Language
Nematodes are tiny, ubiquitous roundworms that infect plant roots, causing more than $100 billion in crop damage worldwide each year. New research has found that plants manipulate the worms’ pheromones to repel infestations, providing insights into how farmers could...![Aspirin-Like Compounds Could Treat Numerous Human Diseases](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/20150406_5326.crop2_-1080x675.jpg)
Aspirin-Like Compounds Could Treat Numerous Human Diseases
People have used aspirin to treat pain, fever and inflammation for more than a century, and the drug is also used to reduce the risk of strokes, heart attacks and some cancers. An estimated 100 billion aspirin tablets are taken worldwide each year, but how it works is...![BTI Researchers Publish High-Impact Nature Papers](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/EIJitTSXYAIP5-X_square2-1080x675.jpg)
BTI Researchers Publish High-Impact Nature Papers
We would like to congratulate a pair of BTI faculty members who recently published high-impact research papers in the prestigious research journal Nature. Frank Schroeder and colleagues discovered the first clues on how gut health influences brain health. Published on...![Harvesting Genes to Improve Watermelons](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/watermelon-fruit-size-and-flesh-diversity-735x675.jpg)
Harvesting Genes to Improve Watermelons
When many people think of watermelon, they likely think of Citrullus lanatus, the cultivated watermelon with sweet, juicy red fruit enjoyed around the world as a dessert. Indeed, watermelon is one of the world’s most popular fruits, second only to tomato – which many...![BTI’s Michelle Heck and Joyce Van Eck Guest on Podcasts](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/michelle-studio-pic-crop1-e1572465758593-1080x675.jpg)
BTI’s Michelle Heck and Joyce Van Eck Guest on Podcasts
Boyce Thompson Institute is happy to share that two of our faculty members recently appeared as guests on popular podcasts. The content of these podcasts illustrate the breadth of research being done at the Institute to help increase global food security, improve...![BTI Researchers Unlocking Hornworts’ Secrets](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Fay-Wei_Li_hornworts4.edit_.square.jpg)
BTI Researchers Unlocking Hornworts’ Secrets
Hornworts are a little-studied, ancient group of plants with some very unique biology, including their methods of securing carbon and nitrogen. Unlocking these secrets may help researchers boost agricultural output and use less synthetic fertilizer, as well as provide...![Plant Gene Discovery Could Help Reduce Fertilizer Pollution in Waterways](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Plant1-crop1-1080x675.jpg)
Plant Gene Discovery Could Help Reduce Fertilizer Pollution in Waterways
Over-fertilization of agricultural fields is a huge environmental problem. Excess phosphorus from fertilized cropland frequently finds its way into nearby rivers and lakes. A resulting boom of aquatic plant growth can cause oxygen levels in the water to plunge,...![BTI Celebrates Another Successful Summer Internship Program](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Symposium19-1501-siobhan-crop5-square-935x675.jpg)
BTI Celebrates Another Successful Summer Internship Program
Boyce Thompson Institute celebrated its 19th annual Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) summer internship program with an award ceremony at the George and Helen Kohut Symposium, which was held at the Institute on August 8. The PGRP focuses on training and inspiring...![BTI Researchers Discover Compound that Speeds Sexual Development and Decline](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/nchb_thumbnail_AUG19-1080x675.jpg)
BTI Researchers Discover Compound that Speeds Sexual Development and Decline
Every day, people are exposed to myriad chemicals, both natural and synthetic. Some of these compounds may affect human physical development, but testing them directly on people would be grossly unethical. To get around this dilemma, researchers from Boyce Thompson...![Worm Pheromones Protect Major Crops](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Klessig_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Phytopathology-1-1080x675.jpg)
Worm Pheromones Protect Major Crops
Protecting crops from pests and pathogens without using toxic pesticides has been a longtime goal of farmers. Researchers at Boyce Thompson Institute have found that compounds from an unlikely source – microscopic soil roundworms – could achieve this aim. As described...![Cluster Hire Yields Three New Faculty Members](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Headshots_1000px.jpg)
Cluster Hire Yields Three New Faculty Members
Boyce Thompson Institute is pleased to announce the hiring of three faculty members as part of its new and innovative “cluster hire” approach. Out of 113 applicants, the three people who will join BTI over the next year are: Magdalena (Magda) Julkowska, a postdoctoral...![BTI Welcomes Summer Student Interns](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0455-1080x675.jpg)
BTI Welcomes Summer Student Interns
On June 3, Boyce Thompson Institute welcomed 35 of the country’s brightest undergraduate students from universities around the country to experience the life of a researcher for 10 weeks. Eight more interns from area high schools will join the Institute for seven...![BTI Researchers Discover Interactions Between Plant and Insect-Infecting Viruses](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Scan-011_Multifocus-Image-1080x675.jpg)
BTI Researchers Discover Interactions Between Plant and Insect-Infecting Viruses
Aphids and the plant viruses they transmit cause billions of dollars in crop damage around the world every year. Researchers in Michelle Heck’s lab at the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Boyce Thompson Institute are examining the relationship at the molecular...![Congratulations to BTI’s PhD Graduates!](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Pooja-Penelope-Maro-1080x675.jpg)
Congratulations to BTI’s PhD Graduates!
We are pleased to announce that seven Boyce Thompson Institute researchers received their PhD degrees during the Cornell University commencement ceremony on May 26. Congratulations to our newest alumni: Mariko Alexander, Heck lab, “Searching for the missing...![BTI’s Olivia Gomez Places 4th in APS Councilors’ Challenge](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Olivia_Gomez-2-1080x675.jpg)
BTI’s Olivia Gomez Places 4th in APS Councilors’ Challenge
The Boyce Thompson Institute is pleased to announce that Olivia Gomez, a third-year undergraduate researcher in Michelle Heck’s lab, has placed fourth in the American Phytopathological Society’s Councilors’ Challenge. “Thank you to my mentor Michelle and to the...![BTI Scientists Create New Genomic Resource for Improving Tomatoes](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Fei-and-Jim-1-1080x675.jpg)
BTI Scientists Create New Genomic Resource for Improving Tomatoes
Tomato breeders have traditionally emphasized traits that improve production, like larger fruits and more fruits per plant. As a result, some traits that improved other important qualities, such as flavor and disease resistance, were lost. Researchers from Boyce...![BTI’s Maria Harrison Elected to National Academy of Sciences](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/harrison-mj-1080x675.jpg)
BTI’s Maria Harrison Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Maria Harrison, William H. Crocker Professor at Boyce Thompson Institute and Adjunct Professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) at Cornell University, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Harrison is one of 100 new members announced...![BTI’s Big Red Anniversary: 40 Years at Cornell](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/dedication-program-cover-1080x675.jpg)
BTI’s Big Red Anniversary: 40 Years at Cornell
The Boyce Thompson Institute of Corvallis, Oregon? It almost happened. April 24 will mark the 40th anniversary of the dedication ceremony for BTI’s current facilities on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY. The Institute’s researchers and staff will celebrate...![Inaugural BTI Alumni Recognition Awards](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/PGS.png)
Inaugural BTI Alumni Recognition Awards
It is with great enthusiasm and pride that Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) will recognize the first recipients of BTI’s Alumni Recognition Awards during the 2019 PGS Career Symposium on April 26, 2019. Several highly qualified individuals were nominated for the...![A universal framework combining genome annotation and undergraduate education](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Figure-thumbnail.jpg)
A universal framework combining genome annotation and undergraduate education
As genome sequencing becomes cheaper and faster, resulting in an exponential increase in data, the need for efficiency in predicting gene function is growing, as is the need to train the next generation of scientists in bioinformatics. Researchers in the lab of Lukas...![BTI Promotes Faculty Member Fei](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Fei.jpg)
BTI Promotes Faculty Member Fei
David Stern, president of the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), is delighted to announce that faculty member Zhangjun Fei has been promoted to Full Professor on February 27, 2019. Fei was evaluated on his achievements to date and the potential he possesses. Fei has made...![Ascribe Bioscience Receives SBIR Award from NSF](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Ascribe-soybeans-1001x675.jpg)
Ascribe Bioscience Receives SBIR Award from NSF
On January 29, 2019, Ascribe Bioscience became the first company based on technology developed at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) to receive a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. The agbiotech startup will use the $225,000 Phase I award from the...![Cassava experts gather to champion ‘orphan crop’](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/0225_cassava2-1080x641.jpg)
Cassava experts gather to champion ‘orphan crop’
It’s a dietary staple for millions of Africans, but cassava has traditionally received little attention from scientists and plant breeders in comparison to cash crops such as wheat and maize. However, researchers have recently been working to find cassava a scientific...![Plant–Fungal Interface Gets Tubular](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/modv0014adj.AJBcrop-1080x675.jpg)
Plant–Fungal Interface Gets Tubular
For hundreds of millions of years, plants and fungi have formed symbiotic relationships to trade crucial nutrients, such as phosphate and fatty acids. This relationship is extremely important to the growth and survival of both organisms, and solving the mystery of how...![New CRISPR database to catalyze collaborations](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Ning-Zhang-9-crop2-resized.jpg)
New CRISPR database to catalyze collaborations
Recently developed gene editing tools like CRISPR/Cas enable scientists to figure out the functions of myriad plant genes. While these studies could eventually lead to the creation of crops with improved traits like increased disease resistance or higher yield,...![Orange is the new white: New sweetpotato data is something to be thankful for](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Picture1-3.png)
Orange is the new white: New sweetpotato data is something to be thankful for
The genome sequences of I. trifida and I. triloba can be used as robust references to facilitate sweetpotato breeding. The genomic resources developed in this study set the stage for increased rates of genetic gains for key traits such as yield, resistance to disease, and high beta-carotene.
![Back to our roots: Insights from genomes of a plant-associated fungus and its bacterial endosymbionts](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/D.-epigaea-spores.jpg)
Back to our roots: Insights from genomes of a plant-associated fungus and its bacterial endosymbionts
In an article published this month in the journal New Phytologist, researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute and the National Center for Genome Resources describe the genome sequences (DNA sequences), of the fungus Diversispora epigaea (formerly known as Glomus...![CRISPR tames the wild groundcherry](https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Picture2.jpg)