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November 2024 Meeting Summary

It was great to get together on November 8th to review our progress and map out the year ahead. We had a wonderful group joining us, and while we missed a few colleagues, the conversation was lively and focused on making Genesys even more useful for everyone.

Who joined us​

We were happy to have:

  • Chris Richards (USDA, USA) - Chair
  • Peter Wenzl (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, CGIAR)
  • Sunil Archak (NBPGR, India)
  • Stephan Weise (IPK, Germany)
  • Luigi Guarino (Crop Trust)
  • Sarada Krishnan (Crop Trust)
  • Christelle Rabil and Matija Obreza (Genesys Team, Crop Trust)

We missed Francisco Lopez (ITPGRFA, FAO) and Semíramis Rabelo Ramalho Ramos (Embrapa, Brazil), who couldn't make it this time.

Celebrating 2024's wins​

Matija shared some fantastic news about what we've accomplished this year. A huge highlight is that 87% of the accessions in Genesys are now up-to-date! We're also making the platform more inclusive by fully translating it into French and Spanish, with Brazilian Portuguese on the way.

One of the coolest additions is the AI-powered search for passport data, which lets users ask questions in natural language. We spent some time discussing how this works, and Matija clarified that it's not a "black box": users can actually see and edit the queries the AI generates, making the whole process transparent and a great way to learn.

We also welcomed three new genebanks (from Benin, Guatemala, and Suriname) and added over 50,000 new accessions from 22 different countries. Plus, the new publications database from the BOLD project is a great step toward linking research directly to the PGR collections.

Dreaming big for 2025​

The plan for next year is all about growth and accessibility. We're aiming to:

  • Bring in more partners and more trait data.
  • Add Arabic and Chinese translations (which will mean some exciting updates to our website layout!).
  • Expand our use of AI and create more helpful webinars, workshops, and blog posts.
  • Upgrade our BrAPI implementation and add new tools for subsetting based on trait data.

The committee also pointed us toward some interesting initiatives to watch, like the USDA's BI OnRamP and DASH, the Periodic Table of Food initiative, and the Low-Methane Forages Project. These are all great examples of how genomic and metabolomic data can add value to our collections.

Thinking about our role as a hub​

We had some deep dives into how Genesys fits into the wider ecosystem.

Working with EURISCO Stephan shared the strategy for the EURISCO network. Instead of building redundant interfaces, the idea is to use Genesys APIs as a backend. We all agreed that we should be careful about integrating in situ population data directly into Genesys; for now, it's better to provide links to specialized in situ databases and learn from EURISCO's pilot phase.

A gateway to more data We also talked about Genesys's role as a central hub. The consensus is that Genesys should be the perfect starting point, a curated entry point that links users to characterization data and publications without trying to store every raw dataset or PDF. By focusing on structured metadata and smart linkages, we can keep the system lean and efficient while still providing immense value.

Growing our community​

Finally, we talked about how to attract new data providers. The Crop Trust has had great success using project-based collaborations to introduce partners to Genesys. We're hopeful that our new translations will be a huge driver for engagement, especially in Latin America, making it much easier for more genebanks to join the community.