Empowering a local community to engage in genomics
S ince opening its doors in 2008, dents, teachers, and the public to making profound discov- eries in human and plant genomics to creating thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue for the state of Alabama, the HudsonAlpha model is a proven success. In 2022, HudsonAlpha announced the expansion of its physical footprint outside of its longtime home in Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama. Through HudsonAlpha has made a huge impact on the state of Alabama. Beginning in its home community of Huntsville, the biotechnology non-profit expanded over the years to reach from north Alabama to coastal Mobile. From educating stu- a partnership with the city of Dothan, HudsonAlpha launched the HudsonAlpha Wiregrass campus that will serve Dothan, Alabama, and the surrounding areas. Dothan is nestled in the southeast corner of Alabama, about 20 miles west of Georgia and 16 miles north of Florida. It has a long history of peanut farming, earning the nickname “Peanut Capital of the World.” Approximately half of the United States peanut crop is grown, harvested, and processed within 100 miles of Dothan. The city is so proud of its peanut notoriety that they’ve installed more than 60 artistic peanut statues around town. Although Dothan is a successful peanut hub, pres- sure from the global spread of plant diseases and pests, dwindling natural resources, and climate change threaten crop production worldwide. As scientists connect genetic variants with beneficial crop traits, more and more breed- ers are integrating genomic tools into traditional breeding strategies. Genomic-assisted crop breeding is proving
successful in creating commodity crop varieties that can withstand pressures in specific regions of the country and the world. HudsonAlpha’s agricultural researchers are experts at creating diverse ways to apply genomics to solve chal- lenges in modern plant science and agriculture. A major goal of the HudsonAlpha Wiregrass research mission is to use the power of genomics to develop more drought- and disease-resistant varieties of peanuts and other agricul- turally important crops to thrive in the Wiregrass region. Beginning with peanuts, area stakeholders and HudsonAlpha’s Economic Development Team will work together to identify agronomic issues that affect crop growth in the Wiregrass region, including weather, length of planting season, soil types, and pest/disease presence. The data gathered in these discussions will help research- ers leading the breeding pipeline to identify traits that would make an agronomically and economically valuable peanut variety for the Wiregrass region.
In 2022, HudsonAlpha
announced the expansion of its physical footprint outside of its longtime home in Cummings Research Park in Huntsville to dothan, Alabama
HUDSONALPHA INSTITUTE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY
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