The Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) is a not-for-profit research institute affiliated with Cornell University and located on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. BTI’s mission is to advance knowledge in plant science and to use that knowledge to improve the lives of people around the world. The Institute pursues this mission by supporting basic research in plant biology; developing new ways to use plants for food, fuel, pharmaceuticals and other products; training scientists and students; and communicating our findings to the public.
BTI was founded in 1924 by Boyce Thompson (1869-1930), a successful mining engineer and philanthropist who believed that applying scientific knowledge to agriculture would alleviate poverty and hunger worldwide. BTI has been part of Cornell University since its inception, but operates as an independent entity with its own Board of Trustees.
Since its founding, BTI has been at the forefront of plant science research. Notable achievements include helping to develop hybrid corn, contributing to the discovery of DNA’s double helix structure, identifying genes that confer resistance to crop diseases, and developing new methods for producing biofuels from plants. The Institute is home to more than 250 scientists working on a wide range of topics in plant biology including genetics, genomics, physiology, development, cell biology and biochemistry. We collaborate closely with researchers at Cornell as well as other institutions around the world. Our work touches many aspects of human endeavor including agriculture, food security, renewable energy production, human health and environmental conservation.