Randall Wisser, the geneticist who combines AI and biodiversity

The future of seeds depends on biodiversity. While this statement is certainly not shared by all seed geneticists, it is defended by Randall Wisser. Appointed research director at INRAE's Laboratory of Plant Ecophysiology under Environmental Stress (LEPSE), the American geneticist explains: "I am part of a scientific community that is trying to understand the richness of seed biodiversity and knows that overly reduced crop diversity is certainly a threat to the sustainability of the system." Having worked at the University of Delaware until just a few months ago, he joined Montpellier precisely "to take up the challenges facing agriculture as a result of climate change within this international agricultural research hub."

Since completing his PhD at Cornell University in New York, Randall Wisser, who with typical American friendliness quickly becomes Randy, has been fascinated by the complexity of living organisms, observing phenomena such as plant disease resistance. He studies the many protective mechanisms at the molecular level, looking at variations from one plant to another. The researcher understands that reducing the resistance mechanism to the expression of a single gene offers much less stable protection than if the plant's entire defense machinery is mobilized.

Virtual modeling

In the United States, he works on corn and also looks at how to adapt tropical varieties to a more northern environment. The challenge is to draw on the biodiversity of native varieties to find traits that are resistant to certain diseases or drought, which the limited pool of Western cultivated varieties does not offer. Then adapt them to their new environment. "Our results have shown that this adaptation is fairly rapid, taking around ten years," comments Randy Wisser. But what is rapid in terms of research is an eternity for breeders. This is all the more true in the context of rapid climate change. This is where computing power comes in, enabling the evolution of seeds in a new environment to be modeled. "Thanks to our research, we are simultaneously developing a genomic prediction technique and a virtual modeling system that we hope will shorten these years and adapt the right material to the target environment," explains the geneticist.

It was on the basis of this expertise that he was recruited to LEPSE. This laboratory hosts the PhenoArch platform, which is strategic for his research. By analyzing, at the genetic level, the response of plants (growth, transpiration, and development) to environmental conditions (drought, temperature, and light), the platform provides Randy Wisser with a wealth of data for his research. At INRAE, he will contribute to studying the adaptation of exotic varieties to new environments, particularly in the context of climatologists' predictions.

"The essence of science"

As for his own adaptation to the French research ecosystem, his arrival at the end of November is still too recent to draw any conclusions. But he was impressed by his first research stay at INRAE, where he says he found "the essence of science" through teamwork. This is no small compliment for someone who recognizes that in the United States, at this stage of his career, a researcher has his own laboratory equipped with the latest equipment. "The United States is based on the concept of independence, so I believe that the nature of collaboration is different. At LEPSE, I feel there is a team dynamic where the result is greater than the sum of its parts."

Despite his desire to show the bright side of things, Randy Wisser hints that arriving in France during the COVID pandemic was no walk in the park. He is no longer sure what was due to immigration or the health crisis when he describes himself as an "Airbnb gypsy" for three months before finally finding accommodation. He recounts the surreal moment when he, his wife, and their two children joined the dozen or so passengers on the Airbus A380 that took them to the Old Continent.

• UMR LEPSE website