A smiling middle-aged man wearing round glasses and a light blue button-down shirt sits in front of a bookshelf filled with books and framed items, resting his chin on his hand. A green graphic overlay in the lower corner reads “2026 Guggenheim Fellows – Natural Sciences.

BTI’s Eric Richards has been named a 2026 @guggfellows.bsky.social—diving into forgotten experiments to uncover what they can teach us about genetics today. Read how the past is shaping the future: https://cstu.io/abd68a

#guggfellows2026

New research highlighted by phys.org from BTI President Silvia Restrepo shows how fungal endophytes could help cacao plants better withstand drought. A promising step toward protecting a crop that is vital for chocolate, pharmaceuticals, and more as climate pressures grow. phys.org/news/2026-04...

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Cucumber genetics got a 172,000-piece upgrade. That's how many large DNA rearrangements BTI scientists catalogued by combining 39 cucumber genomes into one mega-map. Now breeders have a powerful tool to work with.
https://cstu.io/2dae4c

Communicating your research well is a vital skill for scientists and has far-reaching impacts for society. This workshop will introduce the audience to the importance of science communication and best practices.

REGISTER: cornell.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
#biotech #ScienceCommunication #PlantScience

Four crops dominate global food. Hundreds of nutritious alternatives sit underutilized. BTI researchers just showed how #CRISPR can change that—engineering compact goldenberry plants that are 35% shorter and ready for commercial farming Read more: https://cstu.io/1dd08e

The Physalis Project Blog | BTI Community Science Join the Boyce Thompson Institute's Physalis Improvement Project. Explore groundcherry and goldenberry research through community science.

New on the #Physalis Improvement Project Blog! #Goldenberry is still under the radar—but maybe not for long. From “superfruit” appeal to growing interest in gardens and markets, is it closer to going mainstream? Read more to find out. physalis.btiscience.org/blog/goldenb...

BREAKING: A new genetic map allows full customization of cucumbers 🥒🧬

Shape. Flavor. Texture. Even personality?!

Youth leaders from the New York Youth Institute World Food Prize visited BTI on March 20 to explore plant science research, biotechnology, and gene editing. Students heard from faculty member Georg Jander, toured the greenhouse, and repotted purple tomato seeds from Norfolk Healthy Produce.

So excited to see @epiplantpath.bsky.social being invited to speak! I work with her at @btiscience.bsky.social, she's a top-notch scientist and science communictor, and an incredible mentor.

#Fungal26

BTI's Isako Di Tomassi Honored with National Advocacy Award for Mobilizing Scientists Across the Country - Boyce Thompson Institute

BTI researcher Isako Di Tomassi co-led The McClintock Letters – mobilizing researchers to write for their hometown papers and defend federal science funding. She won Research!America's "Meeting the Moment for Public Health" award for it. Well deserved!

Full story: btiscience.org/explore-bti/...

Thank you Congressman @reprileyny.bsky.social & Congressman James Baird for introducing H.R. 7949 - NSF Plant Biology Act. This bipartisan effort to increase NSF funding for plant and microbial biology research is vital for the future of science and innovation. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

How the humble hornwort could supercharge agriculture Scientists have found a way to boost the efficiency of rubisco — the enzyme that powers life on Earth — and hope to transfer it to crops.

New research from @fernway.bsky.social and collaborators shows how hornwort concentrates CO₂ around rubisco—the key photosynthesis enzyme. The discovery could help create crops that grow faster, use less water, and need fewer fertilizers. grist.org/food-and-agr...

An unconventional Rubisco small subunit underpins the CO2-concentrating organelle in land plants In many algae, photosynthesis is boosted by biophysical CO2-concentrating mechanisms, which pack the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco into liquid-like organelles called pyrenoids. Engineering C3 crops with a...

Our work on #hornwort #pyrenoids is finally out in @science.org! 🎉 We uncovered how hornworts pack their Rubisco into pyrenoids and successfully recreated them in Arabidopsis. A key step toward engineering more efficient photosynthesis in crops @btiscience.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Children participate in a hands-on science activity at a table, using leaf samples and a dropper with cups of water while a facilitator demonstrates. A banner reads “Girls Day Out.”

A child punches small circles from spinach leaves with a hole punch during a plant science activity while an instructor stands nearby guiding the experiment.

An instructor helps a student prepare leaf samples for a plant science experiment at a table covered with spinach leaves, books, and lab tools.

Small green leaf disks float in a cup of water during a photosynthesis experiment demonstrating how plants produce oxygen.

BTI’s Isabelle Jacqmotte-Parks and Megan Truesdail joined the Cortland YWCA’s annual Girls Day Out, where girls explored STEAM careers and conducted a hands-on experiment to learn about plant photosynthesis.

It's not a finished solution; there's still engineering work to do. But it's the kind of foundational breakthrough that changes what's possible.

Why it matters: This "plug-and-play" protein could be a simpler route to engineering CO₂-boosting compartments into wheat, rice, and other food crops—potentially raising yields while reducing agriculture's environmental footprint.

They tested it in Arabidopsis (a standard lab plant). Rubisco formed dense compartments inside the chloroplasts—structures never seen before in a land plant. Even attaching just the STAR tail to Arabidopsis's own Rubisco triggered the same clustering.

Instead of a separate "packing protein" (the algae approach), hornworts evolved a modified Rubisco component, called RbcS-STAR, with a built-in "molecular velcro" tail that causes Rubisco to self-cluster. The clumping function is built into Rubisco itself.

Enter hornworts. They're the only land plants known to have pyrenoid-like compartments. Researchers just figured out HOW they do it—and the answer was unexpected.

Algae solved this long ago with pyrenoids, microscopic compartments that concentrate CO₂ around Rubisco. Scientists have wanted to engineer this into food crops for decades. But algae machinery doesn't translate well to land plants.

The problem: Rubisco, the enzyme that captures CO₂ during photosynthesis, is surprisingly slow and easily "distracted" by oxygen. This inefficiency limits how productive crops can be—and it's one of agriculture's biggest unsolved challenges.

This odd little plant could help turbocharge crop yields - Boyce Thompson Institute

An odd little plant—the hornwort—just gave scientists a blueprint for how to make crops more efficient.
New paper out today in Science from BTI, Cornell & the University of Edinburgh. Here's why it matters: btiscience.org/explore-bti/...

Graphic with the headline “We’re Hiring! Controller” in green and black text. The posting states that BTI is seeking an experienced Controller to oversee day-to-day financial operations, fiscal management, compliance, and reporting. It describes working in a small, collaborative finance team and interacting with the Board of Directors, management, auditors, banks, investment managers, and service providers. The lower portion features a photo of a modern brick office building surrounded by trees and flowers, with green geometric design elements and a small leaf-themed logo in the corner. Image credit: Simon Wheeler.

BTI is seeking an experienced Controller to lead financial operations, reporting, compliance, and budgeting in a mission-driven nonprofit research environment. Join a team advancing plant science and global food security.

Learn more & apply recruiting.paylocity.com/Recruiting/J...

Black-and-white studio photograph of a laboratory clinostat machine with rotating circular plates holding potted plants, labeled “A Continuous and Intermittent Clinostat” from the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Yonkers, New York, used to rotate plants to study the effects of gravity on growth.

Throwback science! 🌿We found this fascinating piece of equipment while digging into the BTI archives. Think you know what it was used for? Take a guess in the comments!

Roses are red, violets are blue, our research keeps growing, and so does our love for you! 💚 Happy Valentine’s Day from BTI.

Green graphic from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The BTI logo appears at the top, followed by the headline “International Day of Women and Girls in Science.” Text below reads: “Today we honor all the women of BTI’s past, present and future, whose work furthers science at BTI and beyond.” At the bottom, four illustrated women of diverse skin tones and backgrounds stand side by side in profile, facing right.

Today we celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science by recognizing the scientists at BTI whose curiosity, creativity, and leadership are shaping the future of plant science and agriculture. Their work drives discovery, innovation, and real-world impact.

Breeding a better cucumber: new genetic map reveals 171,892 structural variants - Boyce Thompson Institute Agriculture. Environment. Human Health.

Cucumber genetics got a 172,000-piece upgrade. That's how many large DNA rearrangements BTI scientists catalogued by combining 39 cucumber genomes into one mega-map—the most comprehensive genetic map of cucumber ever created.
Now breeders have a powerful tool to work with.
https://cstu.io/c5350b

We were glad to welcome the Wegmans Food Markets sustainability team and Organic Farm & Orchard leaders to BTI for a visit, sharing ideas on sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. A great day with partners who care deeply about a healthier, more sustainable future.

BTI's 2025 REU Program YouTube video by BTIScience

Our 10-week Research Experiences for Undergraduates program offers hands-on research, mentorship, and professional development in a collaborative research community. Applications for the 2026 program close Feb 2.

Apply: reu.btiscience.org

youtube.com/shorts/bdKj7...

#PlantScience #REU

BTI scientists illuminate ancient plant-fungus partnership at molecular level - Boyce Thompson Institute

80% of Earth's plant species partner with soil fungi for nutrients—including staple crops that feed billions.

BTI's Harrison Lab developed tools to identify the proteins controlling this exchange.

Next step: crops needing less synthetic fertilizer.

btiscience.org/explore-bti/...