Director, Technology
Transfer and Licensing
Cornell University
ppd2@cornell.edu
607-254-8729
Karen Kindle, PhD
Principal Liaison
for Technology Marketing
and Licensing
Cornell University
klk9@cornell.edu
607-254-7476
Donna Claes
Technology Transfer
Specialist
Cornell University
dlm39@cornell.edu
607-254-4757
Technology Transfer: Ensuring that BTI Research Benefits Society
The Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research makes fundamental discoveries in plant biology with support from federal and private grants. An important part of our mission is to identify basic research results that can be applied to commercial or humanitarian goals: to improve agriculture, enhance human health, or protect the environment. Discoveries with commercial potential are submitted for patent protection. By reaching out to scientists in industry, we identify opportunities for licensing, collaborative research, or consulting.
Collaborations and Consulting
The expertise of BTI scientists includes such diverse areas as plant disease and insect resistance, fundamentals of photosynthesis and abiotic stress tolerance, and genome-scale capabilities, including DNA and RNA sequencing, bioinformatics, small molecule chemistry, and functional proteomics. In addition, we have expertise in plant transformation and insect cell culture.
Discoveries Making an Impact
Seminal BTI discoveries include:
- Vaccine or protein production in insect cell lines
- Natural small molecules in plant and human helth
- Plant disease resistance
- Salicylic acid pathway for systemic acquired resistance
- Plant and bacterial proteins in innate and effector-triggered immunity
- Plant insect resistance – plant genes and small signaling molecules
- Plant-based vaccines
Industry Opportunities
Please follow the links below, which lead to slide decks that explain the various technologies in a clear and pictorial manner
Emerging Technologies
- Small Molecules that Regulate Nematode Development (Ascarosides)
- CRT1/CRH1 Control of Fungal and Bacterial Disease in Barley
- Role of BAK1:AvrPtoB Interface in Bacterial Speck Disease of Tomato
- Aphid Resistance Alleles in the Maize NAM Population
- Role of Small Molecules in Insect Resistance
- Biosynthetic Pathway and Organelle Regulation to Enhance Vitamin A Precursors
BTI’s research into the viral diseases of insects leads to advances in Cancer Prevention
An insect cell line BTI-TN5B1 (The High-Five ™), developed at BTI by Dr. Robert Granados while doing basic research on insects viruses, is now being used to produce Cervarix ™ made by GlaxoSmithKline. This is one of two currently available vaccines that targets the HPV virus a major cause of cervical cancer. The vaccine is currently being used in over 100 countries around the world.
