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The Boyce Thompson Institute (previously: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research) is an independent research institute devoted to using
plant science Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially their anatomy, taxonomy, and ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field. "Plant" and "botany ...
s to improve
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
, protect the environment, and enhance
human health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain ...
. The Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) is located on the campus of
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
, United States, and is fully integrated in the research infrastructure of the university. Faculty at BTI are members of several Cornell Departments, including Plant Biology, Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Molecular Biology & Genetics, as well as Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology. BTI is governed by a board of directors, which is in part appointed by Cornell.


History

William Boyce Thompson became wealthy from the
copper mining Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from list of copper ores, its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with coun ...
industry and visited
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
in 1917, where he saw the effects of hunger on its people. This trip persuaded Thompson of the importance of ensuring food supply for the world population, and in 1920, he decided to establish the Institute for Plant Research. He wanted the institute to further the understanding of plants, to use this understanding for improving world food supply, and to promote conservation of natural areas. The founding managing director was William Crocker, an associate professor of plant physiology at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
who along with Herbert Hice Whetzel had been academic advisers to Thompson when he planned the institute.


Yonkers

Thompson named the institute in honor of his parents, Anne Boyce Thompson and William Thompson, and endowed it with $10 million. Subsequently, the BTI has been funded by government support and revenues from the licensing of institute patents. Thompson played an active role in the early years of BTI and sought to encourage commercial development of the institute's research results. Therefore, rather than locating BTI on a university campus, Thompson built the laboratories in 1924 across the street from his country estate Alder Manor, in
Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...
. The Yonkers campus, used by BTI until the 1970s, was leased out for use as late as 1997, and then sold to the City of Yonkers Board of Education in 1999. In 2015 the city sold the property for $4.25 million to Simone Development Cos. the plans for the campus were to re-develop it into a mixed-use center with medical offices, restaurants and retail stores.


Cornell University

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 University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...
and
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
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 collaborative relationships. In 2015, in an effort to revamp the brand, the institute changed its name from Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research to Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI).


Programs

Faculty investigators at BTI conduct research on plants and other organisms, train postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates, and teach classes through adjunct appointments at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
. Current faculty members at BTI are: Gary Blissard, Carmen Catala, Zhangjun Fei, Jim Giovannoni, Maria Harrison, Georg Jander, Magda Julkowska, Fay-Wei Li, Greg Martin, Lukas Mueller, Andrew Nelson, Eric Richards, Frank Schroeder, Aleksandra Skirycz, David Stern, and Joyce Van Eck. '' The Scientist'' magazine survey of post doctoral fellows ranked BTI the 12th best place to work. For example, BTI is part of the consortium that is sequencing the
tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
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 program enables undergraduates selected nationally to conduct individual research. BTI also runs after-school science enrichment programs at local grade schools. BTI's research facilities, including the BTI
Mass Spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used ...
Facility and the Plant Cell Imaging Center, are available to researchers from
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
and SUNY Cortland.


Technology transfer


HighFive

The HighFive cell line was originally developed at BTI. The cell line and its virus-free sub-clones remain the sole property o
BTI
The High Five cells have been used to produce the VLP-based HPV vaccine
Cervarix Cervarix is a vaccine against certain types of cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV). Cervarix is designed to prevent infection from HPV types 16 and 18, that cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases. These types also cause most HPV-induced ...
.


See also

* Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park -
Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...
arboretum in Arizona.


References


External links


Boyce Thompson Institute website
{{authority control Cornell University Botanical research institutes Universities and colleges established in 1920 Embedded educational institutions Education in Yonkers, New York Ithaca, New York 1920 establishments in New York (state)