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

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

Problem

Smallholder productivity: Limited access to improved genetics contributes to low crop yields and livestock productivity, reducing smallholder incomes and livelihood opportunities.
Food security & nutrition: Low-yielding and nutritionally poor crop varieties continue to contribute to hunger, malnutrition, and poor dietary diversity.
Climate resilience: Farming systems remain vulnerable to climate change because breeding programs often lack the tools needed to develop resilient crop varieties and livestock breeds.
Disease resilience: Crop and livestock diseases disproportionately affect vulnerable farming communities, increasing food insecurity and poverty.
Technology delivery: Long breeding cycles delay the availability of improved technologies, reducing the impact and timeliness of agricultural development investments.
Institutional capacity: Many research organizations lack efficient genomic tools and laboratory capacity needed to scale agricultural innovation.
Sustainable genetic resources: Insufficient management of genetic diversity threatens biodiversity, long-term agricultural resilience, and sustainable food systems.
Development impact: Limited breeding efficiency reduces the scalability, cost-effectiveness, and long-term impact of investments in agricultural research and development.

Solution

Improved smallholder productivity: Genomic breeding accelerates the development of improved crop varieties and livestock breeds that increase productivity and strengthen rural livelihoods.
Climate-resilient agriculture: Advanced genomic tools enable breeding programs to develop crops and livestock that are better adapted to climate change and environmental stresses.
Reduced disease losses: Targeted genetic screening supports the development of disease- and pest-resistant varieties, increasing the resilience of vulnerable farming communities.
Sustainable genetic resource management: Population diversity analysis helps conserve biodiversity and strengthens the long-term resilience of agricultural systems.
Cost-effective innovation: Automated, high-throughput genotyping reduces breeding costs and increases the efficiency and scalability of agricultural development investments.
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: Genomic tools support the development of nutrient-rich crops and more productive livestock, contributing to improved food security and nutrition.
Strengthened research capacity: Integrated genomic platforms enhance laboratory efficiency, increase technical capacity, and support evidence-based agricultural innovation.
Greater development impact: Faster breeding cycles enable improved technologies to reach farmers more quickly, increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of agricultural development programs.

Key points to design your program

High-Throughput Genetic Testing for Agriculture (Axiom™ Genotyping Solution) accelerates breeding programs by enabling rapid identification of desirable genetic traits such as high yield, disease resistance, climate resilience, and improved nutritional quality. The technology can be integrated into crop improvement, livestock development, aquaculture breeding, food security, climate resilience, and agricultural innovation programs. Its adoption contributes to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess breeding program needs, genetic diversity challenges, disease pressures, productivity constraints, and priority traits in target crops, livestock, or aquaculture species.
Facilitate access to genotyping platforms, laboratory infrastructure, DNA extraction systems, data analysis software, and bioinformatics tools adapted to breeding objectives.
Support training for breeders, researchers, laboratory technicians, extension agents, and young scientists on genomic selection, marker-assisted breeding, data interpretation, and genetic resource management.
Invest in laboratory facilities, genotyping services, sample collection systems, breeding databases, and digital data management platforms to support large-scale implementation.
Promote the use of genomic tools to accelerate the development of high-yielding, disease-resistant, climate-smart, and nutritionally enhanced varieties and breeds.
Support the participation of women and youth in agricultural research, biotechnology, breeding programs, and innovation ecosystems.
Establish partnerships with Thermo Fisher Scientific, research institutions, breeding programs, universities, seed companies, livestock organizations, and development partners to support scaling and sustainability.
Track key indicators such as number of samples analyzed, breeding cycle duration, genetic gains achieved, improved varieties or breeds released, adoption rates, and productivity improvements.

IP

Unknown

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.