With its eye on the prize of naturally bred fruit “with unique and delicious flavors,” International Fruit Genetics LLC, the Bakersfield, Calif.-based table grape breeder with more than 48 patented table grape varieties, plans to open a new breeding and research laboratory this summer that will be a part of IFG’s $19 million Fruitworks | IFG Discovery Center in McFarland, Calif.
While the Fruitworks campus is set to open in spring 2024, the laboratory will be functional in early summer this year, offering IFG’s R&D team more than 10 times the size of its current lab, according to a news release.
The lab will also provide access to the newest and highly technical laboratory equipment to enhance the IFG R&D team’s work, from tissue and plant cultures to virus testing to molecular research, the release said.
Chris Owens, IFG’s lead plant breeder, said the new facility will allow him and his team the ability to increase the scope of their research and bring in-house projects that were previously outsourced due to space limitations. The lab will also allow for the pursuit of molecular genetics projects, such as determining relationships between individuals, tracking favorable genes in different populations and understanding the genetic control of economically important traits, Owens added.
“What we’ve created here is a world class laboratory built from the ground up,” Owens said. “We are continuing the tradition that Dr. David Cain, co-founder of IFG, began over 20 years ago — to naturally breed fruit with unique and delicious flavors that both surprise and delight customers. Before we bring anything into the field, we start all breeding programs in the laboratory and the new facilities allow us to continue to innovate and amplify our research methods.”
Additionally, the team can now conduct in-house virus testing using molecular tools, helping to identify any virus-infected plants and eliminate the virus when necessary. Owens said that his team is looking to add functions, such as flavor chemistry, to more accurately pinpoint which growing conditions will lead to enhanced flavors, as well as plant pathology and plant physiology.
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“Our newly expanded laboratory is part of IFG’s official growth strategy,” IFG CEO Andy Higgins said in the release. “Not only do we get to intensify the scope of our breeding and research, but this facility allows us the opportunity to increase our current R&D team. Right now, we have the best-in-class plant breeder and researchers, but soon, we will be able to recruit from the finest universities as well as pull from some of the world’s top fruit breeding regions, such as Chile and our home-base in Kern County. This includes hiring food chemists, post-harvest physiologists and other research team members.”
IFG says it is looking to expand its breeding personnel in the data science field. New genomic technologies mean fruit breeders can generate terabytes of genetic data (a terabyte equals 1,000,000 megabytes) at a low cost compared with historical standards. This data can unveil critical information, such as the color or taste of a berry, the release said.
The newly expanded laboratory facilities will allow the IFG R&D team to hire data scientists to analyze these large data sets.
