Steven Tanksley | |
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 Tanksley in 2011 | |
| Born | Steven Dale Tanksley (1954-04-07)April 7, 1954 (age 71) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Colorado State University (BA) University of California, Davis (PhD) |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant Breeding Genetics |
| Institutions | Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences |
| Thesis | Inheritance, developmental expression, and polymorphism of three glycolytic enzymes in species of Lycopersicon (1979) |
| Doctoral students | Susan McCouch |
| Website | plbrgen |
Steven Dale Tanksley (born April 7, 1954) is the Chief Technology Officer of Nature Source Improved Plants. Prior to founding Nature Source Improved Plants, Tanksley served as theLiberty Hyde Bailey professor ofplant breeding andbiometry and chair of theGenomics Initiative Task Force atCornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is currently[when?] a Professor Emeritus atCornell University.
Tanksley received abachelor's degree inagronomy fromColorado State University in 1976 and adoctorate ingenetics from theUniversity of California, Davis in 1979.
Tanksley joined the faculty atCornell in 1985 as an associate professor of plant breeding, and became fullprofessor in 1994. He led the development of the first molecular maps of tomato[1] and rice.[2] In 1993, Tanksley was the head of a Cornell research group that isolated and subsequentlycloned a disease-resistance gene in tomato plants. The research is believed to be the first successful DNA map-based cloning in a major crop plant.[3]
Much of Tanksley's work focused on identifying alleles from wild relatives of crops that could be useful in improving cultivated varieties, for example fruit size and shape in tomato,[4] using the technologyMarker-assisted selection (MAS). He led work developing the advancedbackcrossQuantitative Trait Loci (QTL) method, facilitating the introgression of new alleles into cultivated breeding lines.[5] His team also spearheaded using genetic markers in comparative mapping amongSolanaceae species[6] and others.[7][8]
Tanksley has co-authored more than 200 scientific publications[citation needed] and has mentored dozens of graduate students[citation needed] includingSusan McCouch.
In 2006, Tanksley co-founded Nature Source Genetics, a company based in Ithaca, NY, conceived to work on creating new computer algorithms to improve the efficiency of using natural genetic diversity in crop improvement. In 2016, Nature Source Genetics merged with the In Vitro division of Agromod, a Mexican company specializing in plant propagation, to form Nature Source Improved Plants, LLC,[9] a US-based company dedicated to the genetic improvement, propagation, and sales of high performing plant materials.[10] The company has one division in Ithaca, NY and one in Tapachula, Mexico.
Tanksley was elected a member of theNational Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1995.[11] He has received theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation Award,[12] theMartin Gibbs Medal of theAmerican Society of Plant Biologists,[13] and theWolf Prize in Agriculture.[14] Tanksley was also awarded the Kumho International Science Award in 2005 for his work in molecular genetics.[15] In 2016, he won theJapan Prize.[16] He was elected aForeign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) of London in 2009.[17]
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