Basil Advanced Studies and Innovation Laboratory

Our team, affectionately known as the Basil Advanced Studies and Innovation Laboratory (B.A.S.I.L. for short) or more seriously the US Basil Consortium, is a multi-university, interdisciplinary research team of plant breeders, pathologists, chemists, geneticists, extension agents, and molecular biologists. The scientists at Rutgers University are leading these efforts in collaboration with the team members from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Florida, and Bar-Ilan University. The consortium addresses the basil industry’s problems head-on by applying innovative methods to specialty crop plant breeding. Our team can accomplish this by better understanding and developing the basil plant’s genetic resistance to disease, which is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than relying on chemical controls. We interface regularly with all different facets of the basil production chain, including growers, seed companies, packagers and other stakeholders to ensure we are meeting market and industry needs. Science-in-Action storytelling is also embedded in everything our team does.