The
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research is a renowned research and education organization currently located on the campus of
Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
in
Ithaca, New YorkThe city of Ithaca, , sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York, USA. It is best known for being home to Cornell University, an Ivy League school with almost 20,000 students...
. A Board of Directors, half appointed by Cornell, governs this independent institution addressing plant research.
William Boyce ThompsonWilliam Boyce Thompson, , was an American mining engineer, financier, promoter of Western support for the revolutionary Kerensky and Bolshevik governments of Russia, philanthropist, and founder of Newmont Mining....
, who has built his fortune from the copper mining industry, had visited Russia in 1917 and saw the inability of the new democracy to feed the hungry.
The
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research is a renowned research and education organization currently located on the campus of
Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
in
Ithaca, New YorkThe city of Ithaca, , sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York, USA. It is best known for being home to Cornell University, an Ivy League school with almost 20,000 students...
. A Board of Directors, half appointed by Cornell, governs this independent institution addressing plant research.
History
William Boyce ThompsonWilliam Boyce Thompson, , was an American mining engineer, financier, promoter of Western support for the revolutionary Kerensky and Bolshevik governments of Russia, philanthropist, and founder of Newmont Mining....
, who has built his fortune from the copper mining industry, had visited Russia in 1917 and saw the inability of the new democracy to feed the hungry. In 1920, he decided to establish an institute for plant research. Its purpose would be to study "why and how plants grow, why they languish or thrive, how their diseases may be conquered, how their development may be stimulated by the regulation of the elements which contribute to their life." Thompson hoped that the study of plants would result in practical, substantial contributions to human welfare. Thompson realized that the growing population of the United States would need a larger food supply. The study of plant diseases and the development of cures for them, the creation through genetic research of hardier, more nutritious, disease-resistant crop plants and more viable seeds, the study of insects that damage food crops, and the production of new pesticides all would contribute to this goal. Conservation would be another goal: "Men were too prone in America to destroy vegetation, especially forests and grazing surfaces", he said. "They must learn now to conserve." The effect of industrial pollutants on plants and the development of methods to protect plants would be studied. Thompson expected the institute to make valuable contributions to general scientific knowledge, to biology, and to medicine.
Thompson and named the institute in honor of his parents, Anne Boyce Thompson and William Thompson, and endowed it with $10 million. He hoped that this seed money would enable the institute to acquire the very best scientists, equipment, and supplies and then to develop relationships with industry and the government to help finance research. The licensing of institute patents with companies has helped balance funding during years of lean government support. Thompson believed that commerce and industry are beneficial to society and that commercial development of research results would spread the institute's discoveries.
Although Thompson was encouraged to affiliate his project with a major university, he wanted to play an active role, and in 1924, Thompson built the initial laboratories across the street from his country estate
Alder Manor, in
Yonkers, New YorkYonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, New York, with a population of 196,086 . More recent estimates put the population at 197,234 in 2002, 197,126 in 2004 and 196,425 in 2005...
. The Georgian Revival laboratory building was designed by architect Frank Arnold Colby and built by the J. G. White Engineering Corporation, engineers and contractors, of New York City. It is constructed of reinforced concrete with a Flemish Bond brick veneer and is attached to a series of greenhouses on the south end, which were part of the original construction.
BTI remained on its Yonkers campus until the 1970s when Yonkers property taxes and urban pollution posed major problems. Managing Director George L. McNew favored an affiliation with a major research university, and soon a bidding war broke out between
Oregon State UniversityOregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are over 200 academic degree programs offered through the university...
and Cornell University to attract BTI. The New York State Legislature wanted to keep BTI in New York and appropriated $8.5 million for construction of facilities on the Cornell campus if BTI agreed to stay. Oregon also appropriated funds as a relocation incentive. Ultimately, it was decided that affiliation with Cornell offered the most varied research opportunities.
In 1978 a new building designed by Ulrich Franzen was built next to the Cornell Veterinary School, and the move was made. Although affiliated with Cornell, the institute maintains its independence with a separate endowment, Board of Directors, business office, and employee benefits program. Close ties between BTI and Cornell foster many collaborative relationships that are beneficial to both institutions.
The old BTI campus in Yonkers was leased out and actively used as late as 1997, and was acquired by the City of Yonkers / Board of Education in 1999. Its fate is now being litigated as to whether it will be redeveloped as low-income housing or commercial purposes.
Programs
BTI has 12 faculty investigators conducting plant research and training graduate students and post doctoral fellows. The Scientist magazine survey of post doctoral fellows ranked BTI the 12th best place to work. For example, BTI is sequencing the
tomatoThe tomato is a herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that is typically cultivated for the purpose of harvesting its fruit for human consumption...
genomeIn modern molecular biology the genome refers to all of its hereditary information encoded in DNA .The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA. The term was adapted in 1920 by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany...
and creating a database of genomic sequences and information on the tomato and related plants.
Each summer, BTI's 10-week Plant Genome Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program offers undergraduates selected nationally to conduct individual research.
BTI also leads after-school science enrichment programs at local grade schools.
Basic Biology Discoveries
- Discovered how fungal spores can inhibit their own germination. This knowledge made it possible to produce spores more efficiently and in higher quantities in the laboratory, which, in turn, led to advanced studies on the metabolism of germinating spores.
- Proved that fungal pathogens (those that cause disease in plants) begin their development as a pathogen when they recognize the surface of a host plant. This knowledge may lead to innovative ways to protect plants from fungal disease through genetic modification.
- Developed a rooting hormone now used extensively in the nursery industry to propagate plants quickly and efficiently. The hormone is a stable derivative of a natural hormone, called indole acetic acid.
- Developed a serological procedure to identify plant viruses that is now used worldwide.
- Discovered that the genome of a plant virus is divided into two parts.
- Developed advanced techniques in paper and column chromatography for separating and identifying the biological components of mixtures.
- Discovered that insects can become addicted to certain constituents in food plants. This knowledge, which helps explain why some insects feed only on specific plants, may lead to new kinds of insect-resistant plants and a reduction in the use of insecticides.
- Discovered insect viral enzymes, which can be used to overcome an insects intestinal immune system. This advance has led to new concepts in animal-specific viral adaptations.
- Established insect cell lines, which are acknowledge as superior for the production of viral pesticides and recombinant proteins. One cell line called High Five is used worldwide for the production of human therapeutics and vaccines.
- Developed an assay (test) to determine the presence of tobacco mosaic virus
Tobacco mosaic virus is an RNA virus that infects plants, especially tobacco and other members of the family Solanaceae. The infection causes characteristic patterns on the leaves . TMV was the first virus to be discovered...
in a plant a discovery that, in turn, led to the ability to detect and determine the amount of other pathogenic viruses of plants.
- Discovered that insects are vectors that carry disease-causing pathogens from plant to plant and that plant pathogens multiply using the insect as a host. These discoveries led to new ways to control plant diseases.
Agricultural Discoveries
- Discovered the biological and chemical basis for selectivity in herbicides and developed the first herbicide
A herbicide is a substance used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant hormones...
that could control specific weeds without harming other plants.
- Proved that ethylene
Ethylene is the chemical compound with the formula C
2H
4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin. It is extremely important in industry and also has a role in biology as a hormone...
, a natural product produced by plants, is a hormone. Ethylene, which encourages ripening in fruit and vegetables, is now used throughout the food processing industry.
- Identified sex pheromones in bark beetle
A bark beetle is one of approximately 220 genera with 6,000 species of beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae. Traditionally this was considered a distinct family Scolytidae, but nowadays it is understood that bark beetles are in fact very specialized members of the "true weevil" family...
s that make it possible to control these pests without chemical insecticides.
Environmental Discoveries
- Developed computer modeling techniques for predicting forest growth/decline over long periods of time.
- Contributed to PCB decontamination of the Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into...
by developing ecologically important data on the plant and animal life of the region.
- Contributed to the development of EPA ambient air quality standards for ozone
Ozone or trioxygen is a simple triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic O
2. Ground-level ozone is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems of animals...
by providing data and information concerning the impact of ozone on U.S. crops.
- Formulated worldwide air quality standards for fluorides, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
- Developed analytical methods now accepted as the global standard for detecting fluoride
Fluoride is the anion F
−, the reduced form of fluorine. Both organic and inorganic compounds containing the element fluorine are sometimes called fluorides. Fluoride, like other halides, is a monovalent ion . Its compounds often have properties that are distinct relative to other...
s in biological materials and monitoring fluorides in the air.
- Generated data used by the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program to evaluate the biological impact of ozone and acid rain.
- Developed first computer models for testing the combined effect of ozone and acid rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, i.e. elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It has harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is mostly caused by emissions of compounds of sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon which react with the...
on mature forests.
- Developed a computer software package that enables the EPA to evaluate ozone injury to U.S. forests.
Human Health Discoveries
- Discovered the role of a naturally occurring substance, called sugar-glass, that stabilizes dry, stored seeds. This discovery led to new technology for stabilizing insulin, enabling it to be delivered to diabetics through an inhalable dry aerosol spray instead of injection.
- Discovered that vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains a small amount of an agent that resembles a microorganism...
s against human diseases can be delivered orally through food and that plant-delivered vaccines are effective in protecting people against disease.
- Developed modified plants that deliver "edible vaccines" against three human diseases, including hepatitis B.