Ithaca, New York, USA
August 12, 2025
Research Lays the Foundation for Breakthroughs in Global Food Security
In a landmark $2 million initiative, the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and biotechnology company Meiogenix have launched a collaboration to develop drought- and disease-resistant tomatoes by tapping the genetic power of wild species. The project, funded through a generous Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) Seeding Solutions grant, seeks to ensure a stable tomato supply by leveraging cutting-edge genomics and breeding technologies to address the global threats of environmental stress and pathogens.
Front: Dr. Magdalena Julkowska, Assistant Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute. Back (from left): Dr. Gaganpreet Sidhu, CTO, Meiogenix, Dr. Jim Giovannoni, USDA Scientist and BTI Adjunct Professor; Ricardo Garcia de Alba, CEO, Meiogenix; and Dr. Zhangjun Fei, Professor, BTI. The group gathered to celebrate the launch of the collaborative project.
“This project demonstrates how public-private partnerships can accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into practical solutions for food production,” said Dr. Kathy Munkvold, FFAR scientific program director. “Using the rich genetic diversity of wild relatives will help us develop tomatoes that are more resilient to stress, resource efficient for farmers and widely available for consumers.”
Despite their economic and nutritional importance, tomatoes remain highly vulnerable to water scarcity and early blight. Wild tomato species, however, have naturally evolved in some of the harshest environments and possess unique genetic traits with the potential to revolutionize breeding.
The project will combine high-throughput screening of hundreds of wild tomato species with the latest advances in genomics. Central to this effort is the creation of a comprehensive genetic map, or pangenome, to capture all genetic variation across tomato species, enabling researchers to pinpoint rare genetic variants for drought tolerance and disease resistance.
“A single tomato genome doesn’t capture the full extent of genetic diversity,” said primary investigator Zhangjun Fei, BTI professor and genomics expert. “Our pangenome approach will help us identify structural variants – large DNA differences between wild and cultivated tomatoes – that are responsible for valuable traits.”
Once high-value traits are identified, Meiogenix will apply its targeted recombination platform to precisely transfer the genes for drought tolerance and disease resistance to elite tomato germplasm, a process that avoids introducing undesirable wild traits and does not create GMOs.
“Traditional breeding with wild relatives is challenging because you bring many undesirable traits along with the beneficial ones,” said Ricardo Garcia de Alba, CEO of Meiogenix. “Our technology allows for more precise transfers of just the beneficial genetic variants, dramatically speeding up the breeding process.”
A Step Toward More Resilient, Sustainable and Productive Food Systems
- Water Efficiency: Enhanced drought-tolerant tomatoes will reduce irrigation demands—a critical advance since approximately 80% of the world’s farmland faces water constraints.
- Sustainability: Improved resistance to early blight means reduced reliance on chemical fungicides, supporting more environmentally friendly farming.
- Broad Potential: The technology and methods developed through this project could set a precedent for improving other crops, fostering advances across global agriculture.
BTI adjunct professor and USDA scientist Jim Giovannoni, whose pioneering work on fruit quality helped inspire this approach, said, “We originally developed this discovery pipeline using wild relatives of tomato to improve fruit quality, but the approach can be used for virtually any crop improvement trait.”
Gaganpreet Sidhu, CTO of Meiogenix, shared, “We are combining the power of pangenome analysis with targeted genetic recombination to unlock hidden genetic diversity and precisely transfer it into elite lines. What makes it even more exciting is that this approach is crop-agnostic, opening the door to transformative advances in crop improvement across species.”
The collaborative research initiative officially launched in July 2025, with the project expected to span several years as researchers complete genetic screening, pangenome construction, trait identification, trait introgression using targeted recombination and subsequent breeding stages. Updates on key milestones and anticipated application timelines will be shared as the project progresses.
About the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI)
Founded in 1924 and located in Ithaca, New York, BTI is at the forefront of plant science research. Our mission is to advance, communicate, and leverage pioneering discoveries in plant sciences to develop sustainable and resilient agriculture, improve food security, protect the environment, and enhance human health. As an independent nonprofit research institute, we are committed to inspiring and training the next generation of scientific leaders. Learn more at BTIscience.org.
About Meiogenix
Meiogenix is an agriculture biotech company that enables advanced breeding by leveraging targeted recombination. By unlocking the natural genetic diversity of crops, Meiogenix expands the biodiversity that can be used by farmers to address productivity, sustainability and food challenges. For more information, please visit https://meiogenix.com/
About the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.
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