In March 2022, the BNI-enhanced wheat research was awarded the Cozzarelli Prize for the best paper in 2021 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). A video intro highlighting the results of this work has now been published on the PNAS YouTube channel.

PNAS 2021 Cozzarelli Prize Winner for Class VI: Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Envtl Sciences（PNAS YouTube Channel）
https://youtu.be/Q_Bj38PsQxg

The winning paper, is "Enlisting wild grass genes to combat nitrification in wheat farming: A nature-based solution," is a joint research collaboration of JIRCAS, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and others.

The Cozzarelli Prize is awarded to a paper in each of the six categories among 3,476 papers published in PNAS in 2021, and this research was awarded in the Applied Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences category.

This research was highly evaluated for overcoming the technically difficult challenge of crossing wheat with wild species and developing a new wheat variety that can maintain productivity with less nitrogen fertilizer.

The BNI research has been positioned in the “Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, MeaDRI (Measures for achievement of Decarbonization and Resilience with Innovation)” of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) formulated in May 2021, and was also selected by MAFF as one of the “Top 10 Agricultural Technology News for 2021”.

The award ceremony was scheduled to be held online on May 1, 2022 (EST), but instead of the ceremony, the achievements were introduced on the PNAS website.

National Academy of Sciences Press Release: PNAS Announces Six 2021 Cozzarelli Prize Recipients
https://www.jircas.go.jp/ja/release/2021/press202127

Enlisting wild grass genes to combat nitrification in wheat farming: A nature-based solution
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106595118