Professor Steven D. Tanksley is one of the world leaders in plant genomic research. He has contributed to the understanding of heterosis in rice by identifying genes in a wild ancestor that significantly increased yields.

In 2004, he was a co-recipient of the 2004 Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture for his "innovative development of hybrid rice and discovery of the genetic basis of heterosis in this important food staple." The award will be presented by Moshe Katsav, president of the State of Israel, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 9.

Tanksley has demonstrated that quantitatively inherited traits spanning an entire genome, can be dissected into their corresponding Mendelian factors, called quantitative trait loci (QTL). This enables identification of rate-limiting genes associated with crop performance. His demonstration has led to a cascade of experiments by other researchers, who detected and mapped QTLs in a wide array of other organisms. Within Tanksley's own group, QTL analysis in rice led to the discovery of the genetic basis of hybrid vigor in this important food staple, allowing further developments to increase rice yields. These advances have profound implications in promoting the science of plant breeding for the benefit of humankind. 

Education and career
Tanksley received a bachelor's degree in agronomy from Colorado State University in 1976 and a doctorate in genetics from the University of California-Davis in 1979. He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1985 as an associate professor of plant breeding, and became full professor in 1994. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences since 1995. Tanksley has received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award, the Martin Gibbs Medal of the American Society of Plant Biologists, and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture. Tanksley was also awarded the Kumho Internaltional Science Award in 2005 for his work in molecular genetics.

Research
In 1993 Tanksley was the head of a Cornell research group that isolated and subsequently cloned a disease resistant gene in tomato plants. The research is believed to be the first successful DNA map-based cloning.

References
"Tomato Gene That Resists Disease Is Cloned". The New York Times. 26 November 1993.  
"CU's Steven Tanksley is a co-recipient of the prestigious Wolf Prize". Cornell Chronicle. 22 January 2004.  
"Steven Tanksley - Lecture Series Biography".  
"Cornell geneticist to be honored by foundation". JoongAng Daily. 29 May 2005.

Source: Wolf Foundation, wiki