Project

Open Phenome Project

MIT Media Lab, Open Agriculture Initiative

The aim of this project is to create an open source digital library with open data sets that cross link phenotypic response in plants (taste, nutrition, etc) to environmental variables, biologic variables, genetic variables, and resources required in cultivation (inputs). While plants can be altered genetically to produce different or more desirable traits, plants with the same genetics may naturally vary in color, size, texture growth rate, yield, flavor, and nutrient density depending on the environmental conditions in which they are grown. 

Each specific set of conditions can be thought of as a "Climate Recipe" that produces unique phenotypic results. As users experiment with new Climate Recipes, their input data and phenotypic results will be recorded and filed in an open source digital platform so that it can be shared, borrowed, scaled up, and improved upon around the world, instantly.