ARS Scientists Use AI to Help U.S. Farmers
ARS researchers are harnessing the power of AI to enhance the efficiency and resilience of our most important crops. They have developed PlantCAD to help breeders quickly pinpoint genetic variations tied to yield and environmental stresses -- including heat, cold, drought, and flooding -- as well as resistance to new diseases and destructive pests. PlantCAD draws on crop wild relatives and cutting-edge language models to better support U.S. farmers.
PlantCAD is a plant DNA language model trained to interpret genomic sequences developed by ARS scientists and research collaborators. By harnessing advances in AI architecture and genomics, PlantCAD can analyze billions of DNA letters in a plant genome to identify the most relevant features. It performs exceptionally well across a wide range of plant species—detecting mutations that limit yield, uncovering valuable genes in wild relatives, and pinpointing genetic traits useful to breeders. PlantCAD can be a powerful and adaptable tool that will accelerate plant genomics and enhance crop breeding efforts.
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