A consortium comprising The James Hutton Institute, the University of Dundee, Greenvale and McCain Foods was honoured and delighted to be awarded the Hescott-Meredith Memorial Award, at the British Potato awards 2025, held on 19 November as part of British Potato in Harrogate.
The prize, which recognises cutting-edge scientific or research excellence in the industry, was awarded for the development and application of dRenSeq, a genome-reduction technology that informs researchers and breeders of the presence or absence of functional genes controlling diseases in potato.
The technology was developed as part of a Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council Industrial Partnership Awards (BBSRC-IPA) project involving all partners and, critically, validated and implemented by Hutton Scientific Services, the commercial arm of the Hutton. It has already supported the development of several new potato varieties, demonstrating its impact throughout breeding and beyond.
Speaking of the award, Professor Ingo Hein, Head of Potato Genetics at the Hutton and Professor of Crop Genetics in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee said, “This award reflects the outstanding collaboration across Hutton research and breeding, the strong partnership between the Hutton and the University of Dundee, and the integral role of our external partners, resulting in work that is highly relevant and valuable to the industry. Moreover, it has supported the development of several new potato varieties, demonstrating its impact throughout breeding and beyond”.
The Hutton is home to the National Potato Innovation Centre (NPIC), which works in partnership with academics, industry and government in the UK and beyond to carry out scientific research to future proof the potato industry and support economic resilience and growth. It develops solutions that will help ensure the future of potato as a sustainable and profitable crop that provides nutritious food for all and supports the British economy.
The new technologies being developed will speed up the breeding process and open up exciting possibilities for the future.
The James Hutton Institute is a world-leading scientific organisation integrating a distinctive range of strengths in land, crop, waters, environmental and socio-economic science. It undertakes research for customers including the Scottish and UK Governments, the EU and other organisations worldwide. The institute has a staff of nearly 500 and 100 PhD students.
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The Institute takes its name from the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment scientist, James Hutton, who is widely regarded as the founder of modern geology, climate scientist and an agricultural innovator. More information at www.hutton.ac.uk
The Division of Plant Sciences is part of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee which was ranked the top university in the UK for Biological Sciences in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). Since its establishment in 2007, our partnership with the James Hutton Institute has enabled close collaboration through joint appointments and shared expertise, helping to translate fundamental research into practical solutions for agriculture and environmental sustainability.
More information: https://www.dundee.ac.uk/life-sciences
