Designing Tomorrow's Harvest: AI and a New Era of Crop Engineering | Scott Jackson | TEDxFargo

In a world grappling with climate extremes, soil depletion, and food security demands, we can no longer rely solely on traditional breeding. Scott Jackson, founder of the Institute for Crop Design at the University of Georgia, shares how AI-powered modeling, precision genome engineering, and next-generation plant breeding are ushering in a new era of intentional crop design. Drawing from decades of experience—from sequencing legume genomes to leading R&D teams in the seed industry and now building disruptive solutions at UGA—he demonstrates real-world examples. This talk explores the design-build-test-learn cycle that accelerates innovation, turning data, biology, and breeding into tools for resilient, high-value crops. Discover how we move from selecting nature’s offerings to designing the abundant, sustainable food systems of tomorrow. Scott Jackson is a plant geneticist, agricultural innovator, and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Synthetic Biology at the University of Georgia. His work sits at the intersection of genetics, biotechnology, and crop improvement, exploring how advances in science can help design better plants for a changing world.

Over a career spanning academia and the seed industry, Jackson has helped advance the genetic understanding of important crops, including legumes and peanuts, and has contributed to landmark efforts to sequence crop genomes. His research focuses on turning that genetic knowledge into practical tools for improving crops and accelerating the pace of agricultural innovation.

Today, Jackson is helping build the next generation of crop design, bringing together plant genetics, biotechnology, data, and emerging technologies to move agriculture from selecting the traits nature provides to intentionally designing the traits tomorrow's crops will need. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx