News - Boyce Thompson Institute

Mar 2026 19

BTI’s Isako Di Tomassi Honored with National Advocacy Award for Mobilizing Scientists Across the Country

Isako Di Tomassi spends her days studying microbes that threaten plant health. Outside the lab, she helped build a movement: a campaign that convinced hundreds of scientists to write letters and op-eds defending the importance of federal research...

Mar 2026 5

This odd little plant could help turbocharge crop yields

An international team of researchers has uncovered a remarkable molecular trick used by a unique group of land plants, one that could eventually be engineered into crops like wheat and rice to dramatically boost how efficiently they convert sunlight...

Phaeoceros laevis, a species of hornwort commonly known as smooth hornwort

Feb 2026 10

Breeding a better cucumber: new genetic map reveals 171,892 structural variants

Cucumber is an economically important crop worldwide, ranking as the third most-produced vegetable after tomatoes and onions. Yet breeding improved varieties—plants that are more resilient, produce better-shaped fruit, or are less prone to...

Jan 2026 22

BTI scientists illuminate ancient plant-fungus partnership at molecular level

For 450 million years, plants and soil fungi have been trading partners. The fungi weave through plant roots, delivering phosphorus and other soil minerals in exchange for sugars and fats produced by the plant through photosynthesis. This ancient...

The green signal shows that CKL2 interacts with a 14-3-3 protein at the membranes in root cells colonized by a fungus. The pink signal (in the cell nucleus) is a control to confirm that the cell is transformed.

Dec 2025 5

Engineering the next superfood: BTI unlocks goldenberry’s large-scale farming potential

Goldenberries taste like a cross between pineapple and mango, pack the nutritional punch of a superfood, and are increasingly popular in U.S. grocery stores. But the plants that produce these bright yellow-orange fruits grow wild and unruly—reaching...

Dec 2025 3

BTI’s Fay-Wei Li featured on popular “Ologies” podcast

BTI Associate Professor Fay-Wei Li joined host Alie Ward on Ologies—a top-five science podcast on Apple Podcasts—for a wide-ranging conversation about why ferns matter more than most people realize.Li, president-elect of the American Fern Society,...

Fay-Wei Li collecting hornworts in a field

Oct 2025 1

Announcing the Jane Silverthorne Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

A message from Silvia Restrepo, President, Boyce Thompson InstituteAs the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) embarks on our second century of plant science innovation, I'm deeply honored to announce the launch of the Jane Silverthorne Postdoctoral...

Sep 2025 10

Switch On, Switch Off: The Dynamic Defense of a Deadly Plant Disease

How P. infestans Rapidly Adapts to Fungicide ThreatsThe notorious pathogen that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s is still a major threat to potato and tomato crops worldwide. This oomycete water mold, Phytophthora infestans, can devastate...

Late blight, phytophthora infestans, on tomatoes

Sep 2025 2

Lignin and Lessons Learned: A Summer of Growth in Plant Science

You know it's been an incredible, impactful summer experience when it's so hard to leave.I had a spectacular summer as part of the Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell Plant Genome Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.For 10 weeks, I...

A student researcher stands in a field on a sunny day, wearing a hat, backpack, and light-colored clothing. They are smiling and holding equipment used for soil or plant measurements, including a white sensor device with cables connected to a yellow case on the ground. The field is patchy with plants, and power lines stretch across the background.

Aug 2025 21

Not in Kansas Anymore – How a Summer in Ithaca, New York Changed my Life

Hazel Frans, originally from Overland Park, Kansas, is a Senior at Fort Hays State University. She was a 2025 summer intern at the Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University Plant Genome REU.In February, I was making lunch when a notification on my watch...

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