News and Announcements


April 13, 2023

Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative Announces Grants for Big projects, National Conference

Ames, IA – The Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative has awarded seven new grants in its fourth round of support for institutions across the country to develop projects that advance multidisciplinary crop and livestock genetics research.

The Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The goal of AG2PI is to connect crop and livestock scientists to each other and to those working in data science, statistics, engineering and social sciences to identify shared problems and collaborate on solutions. The leading AG2PI partners include Iowa State University, University of Nebraska, University of Arizona, University of Idaho and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. Originally funded as a three-year project, AG2PI was awarded a third grant in fall 2022 to support this latest round of seed grant funding.

This round of grants are larger awards of $150,000 to $250,000. Projects will run 12 months.

We're calling these 'coconut' grants, as they are larger seed grants. They are focused on big ideas and big projects meant to deepen and expand impactful interactions between crop and livestock scientists, said Jennifer Clarke, AG2PI Seed Grant Committee Chair, and director of the Quantitative Life Science Initiative at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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September 28, 2022

Major USDA Grant Supports Pioneering Agricultural Genome to Phenome Collaboration Led by Iowa State University

Ames, IA – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced today it is awarding more than $1.8 million to support the work of the Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI) being led by Iowa State University in collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Idaho.

The goal of AG2PI is to help advance multidisciplinary crop and livestock research by addressing genome to phenome challenges, developing solutions for research infrastructure needs and sharing solutions across kingdoms. It aims to foster collaborations of crop and livestock scientists with colleagues in diverse areas, including data science, statistics, engineering and social sciences, to improve the long-term efficiency and resilience of U.S. agriculture.

Researchers working from genomics to phenomics explore how genomes (organisms' complete set of DNA) influence the expression of observable, phenotypic traits.

The primary focus of the new grant will be to provide competitive funding for projects that will implement a vision for research the AG2PI has been developing with community input over the past two years.

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January 10, 2022

Second Round of Grants Awarded in Agriculture Genome-to-Phenome Research

Ames, IA – The Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative has awarded 11 grants to institutions across the country for projects that help advance multidisciplinary crop and livestock genetics research.

The AG2PI project's second round of grants awarded will broaden the interactions between crop and livestock science, which is a major goal of our initiative. Finding synergistic relationships between plant and animal scientists will improve the pace and methodologies for both research communities, said Patrick Schnable, AG2PI lead scientist and distinguished professor at Iowa State University. I also want to acknowledge the chair of the seed grant committee Jennifer Clarke, at the University of Nebraska, and the rest of her committee for their success in establishing this grant program.

The Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative is a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The goal of AG2PI is to connect crop and livestock scientists to each other and to those working in data science, statistics, engineering and social sciences to identify shared problems and collaborate on solutions.

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August 31, 2021

Grants Awarded for Multidisciplinary Research in Agricultural Genome-to-Phenome Arena

The Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative has awarded seven grants to institutions across the country for projects that help advance crop and livestock genetics research.

Projects such as this will help advance the field of genome-to-phenome research by identifying ways to share data and approaches across crops and livestock, said Patrick Schnable, AG2PI lead scientist and distinguished professor at Iowa State University. We anticipate that some researchers will be able to leverage their seed grants into larger studies.

The Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative is a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The goal of AG2PI is to connect crop and livestock scientists to each other and to those working in data science, statistics, engineering and social sciences to identify shared problems and collaborate on solutions. The AG2PI program includes three rounds of seed grants, of which these are the first round of recipients. The seed grants help to address genome-to-phenome issues and develop solutions for research needs and identify gaps as well as sharing opportunities.

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June 21, 2021

Genome to Phenome Research Community Wins Grant for Next Phase

A new federal grant will expand the impact of a project creating a shared vision across research communities for crops, livestock and data engineering, known as the Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI).

The $960,000 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute for Food and Agriculture supports phase II of the three-year Iowa State University-led AG2PI effort. The program won initial NIFA funding of $960,000 last September. Genomics to phenomics research generally explores how an organism's genome, or complete set of DNA, influences expression of observable, phenotypic traits -- and often how these traits are influenced by environmental factors.

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September 11, 2020

Iowa State University Leads New project to Build Genome to Phenome Research Community Across Crops and Livestock

By Ann Robinson, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

A new federal grant will support an Iowa State University-led effort to spur development of a genome to phenome infrastructure for scientific collaboration across crops and livestock.

The three-year, $960,000 project will provide guidance and lay the groundwork for a larger federal Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

Researchers working from genomics to phenomics explore how genomes (organisms' complete set of DNA) influence the expression of observable, phenotypic traits. With sufficient understanding of these relationships, it becomes possible to predict phenotypic traits based on an organism's genome/DNA sequence. The USDA's goal is to foster a broad community of researchers to use genome to phenome approaches as a foundation for improving the efficiency and resilience of U.S. agriculture.

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