Applied Biosystems™ Axiom™ Genotyping Solution: High-throughput genetic testing for agriculture

Accelerating Precision Breeding for Sustainable Food Security and Resilient Agriculture.

Applied Biosystems™ Axiom™ Genotyping Solution is an advanced genetic testing technology that helps breeders and researchers quickly and accurately identify the best plants, animals, or fish for breeding. It can process thousands of samples per week, is customizable for different species and traits, and delivers precise, reliable results. The system supports faster development of high-yield, disease-resistant, and climate-adapted varieties, making agriculture and aquaculture more productive and sustainable. Its automated workflow makes it easy to use and cost-effective, benefiting large-scale breeding programs and food security efforts.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 8/9

IP

Unknown

Problem

Productivity & profitability: Traditional breeding methods are slow and imprecise, limiting the development of high-performing crop varieties and livestock breeds, reducing productivity, competitiveness, and return on investment.
Disease & pest losses: Crop and livestock diseases and pests increase production risks, lower product quality, and result in significant financial losses across agricultural value chains.
Innovation & competitiveness: Limited genetic diversity restricts the ability to develop climate-resilient, market-driven products that meet evolving customer demands and maintain a competitive advantage.
Breeding efficiency: Conventional breeding relies on lengthy and costly field trials, increasing research and development expenses and delaying product commercialization.
Complex trait development: Developing high-value traits such as drought tolerance, yield, nutritional quality, and feed efficiency remains difficult using traditional breeding approaches.
Operational efficiency: Manual laboratory workflows are labor-intensive, prone to errors, and limit testing capacity, increasing operational costs and slowing breeding programs.
Genetic quality assurance: Inadequate genetic screening increases the risk of inbreeding and loss of genetic quality, reducing the long-term performance of commercial breeding programs.
Speed to market: Slow breeding cycles delay the release of improved products, reducing the ability of companies to respond quickly to market opportunities.

Solution

Faster product development: Genomic selection and custom marker panels enable breeders to identify superior genetic material early, accelerating the development and commercialization of high-performing crop varieties and livestock breeds.
Disease-resistant products: Pathogen detection and targeted genetic screening help companies develop disease- and pest-resistant varieties, reducing production risks and improving product reliability.
Competitive genetics: Multi-species arrays and population analysis strengthen breeding programs by maintaining genetic diversity and supporting the development of resilient, market-oriented products.
Cost-efficient breeding: High-throughput genotyping and automated workflows reduce breeding costs, shorten development cycles, and improve return on research and development investments.
Advanced trait discovery: High-density genotyping and QTL mapping enable the rapid identification and selection of complex traits such as drought tolerance, nutritional quality, and productivity.
Operational efficiency: Fully automated laboratory workflows minimize manual intervention, reduce errors, and increase sample processing capacity to support large-scale breeding operations.
Genetic quality assurance: Parentage testing and diversity monitoring preserve genetic integrity, reduce inbreeding risks, and ensure consistent product quality.
Scalable innovation: Integrated genotyping platforms provide a scalable solution that enables breeding programs to respond rapidly to changing market demands.

Key points to design your business plan

For Resellers

Promoting Applied Biosystems™ Axiom™ Genotyping Solution offers more than just advanced genetic testing. It empowers breeders and researchers to accelerate and improve breeding decisions, enhancing productivity, disease resistance, and adaptation in crops, livestock, and aquaculture. To succeed in this market:

Identify reliable bulk suppliers and authorized distributors of the Axiom™ Genotyping arrays, reagent kits, and GeneTitan™ instruments, available in multiple regions.
Develop partnerships with agricultural research centers, breeding companies, veterinary labs, and government agricultural agencies to expand market reach.
Ensure proper storage and transport conditions to maintain reagent and array quality, preserving assay performance.
Understand pricing models which vary by array customization, throughput capacity, and reagent kits.
Target customers including breeding programs, agricultural biotech firms, livestock farms, aquaculture operations, and government agricultural development projects.

For Users

Using the Axiom™ Genotyping Solution enables faster, more precise breeding by leveraging genetic data to select superior plants and animals, leading to increased yields, disease resistance, and environmental adaptability.

To integrate this technology into your operations:

Assess investment costs for arrays, reagents, and instrumentation relative to expected productivity gains.
Evaluate benefits such as reduced breeding cycle times (up to 50%), improved accuracy in trait selection, and cost savings from more efficient breeding.
Confirm availability through authorized distributors or local partners for timely supply and support.
Invest in training personnel on sample collection, DNA preparation, and software analysis; comprehensive guides and technical support are provided.
Collaborate with local agricultural institutions or service providers for access to genotyping services if direct investment is not feasible.
Estimate return on investment by factoring in enhanced productivity, reduced losses from disease, and potential market expansion due to improved stock quality.

This approach positions both resellers and users to leverage the full potential of the Axiom™ Genotyping Solution, driving innovation and sustainability in agricultural and aquaculture breeding programs.

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: No impact

Under 18: No impact

This technology is developed specifically for persons with molecular biology background/knowledge (scientists)

Women: Positive high

Biodiversity: Not verified

Environmental health: Not verified

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 9 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
South Africa	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Enhances food security by enabling development of high-yield, disease-resistant, and climate-adapted crops and livestock.

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Improves animal and plant health, reducing disease-related losses and supporting healthier livelihoods.

Goal 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure

Promotes innovation in agricultural biotechnology through advanced, accessible genotyping technology.

Goal 13: climate action

Supports resilience to climate change by maintaining and enhancing genetic diversity in breeding programs.

Sample Collection and Preparation
- Collect a small DNA sample from plants (leaves, seeds), animals (blood, hair), or aquaculture species (fin clips).
- Extract and purify the DNA using an appropriate DNA isolation kit.
Loading DNA onto Axiom™ Arrays
- Apply the purified DNA samples onto customized Axiom™ genotyping microarrays, which can contain up to millions of genetic markers.
Automated Processing with the GeneTitan™ System
- Use the GeneTitan™ Multi-Channel instrument to automate DNA amplification, hybridization, washing, and scanning of the arrays.
- The system can process 96 to 384 samples simultaneously, with throughput reaching thousands of samples per week.
Data Analysis
- Genetic data are automatically collected and analyzed using the Axiom™ Analysis Suite software, which performs genotyping and identifies genetic variations.
- The software provides an easy-to-use interface for visualizing results and pinpointing markers of interest.
Making Breeding Decisions
- Based on the genetic profiles generated, breeders and researchers select the best-performing plants or animals with desired traits such as higher yield, disease resistance, or climate adaptability.