Winner of the Israel Prize for Agriculture and the Environment: Professor Danny Zamir from the Hebrew University

In its reasoning, the committee stated that: "The Israel Prize in the field of agricultural research, environmental science research for the year XNUMX is awarded to Prof. Dani Zamir for the cultivation and improvement of tomato varieties and other crops. Prof. Zamir developed a population of cultured tomatoes that contain DNA fragments from a tomato plant that confer resistance to stresses such as drought and salt and resistance to plant diseases. Prof. Zamir is a leading researcher in the field, with international recognition and international collaborations, he contributed and contributes a lot to the agriculture of Israel and the world."

The Minister of Education, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, announced the winner of the Israel Prize in the field of agricultural research and environmental sciences - Prof. Danny Zamir, and congratulated him on winning the prize. The award committee met under the chairmanship of Prof. Yonatan Gersel, chairman of the committee, with the members - Prof. Prof. Miriam Altstein-Shurtz, Prof. Shimon Gafstein, and Prof. Uri Mingalgreen.

In its reasoning, the committee stated that: "The Israel Prize in the field of agricultural research, environmental science research for the year XNUMX is awarded to Prof. Dani Zamir for the cultivation and improvement of tomato varieties and other crops. Prof. Zamir developed a population of cultured tomatoes that contain DNA fragments from a tomato plant that confer resistance to stresses such as drought and salt and resistance to plant diseases. Prof. Zamir is a leading researcher in the field, with international recognition and international collaborations, he contributed and contributes a lot to the agriculture of Israel and the world."

Prof. Danny Zamir is Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at the Smith Institute for Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences in Rehovot.
Prof. Zamir was born in Jerusalem (1950) and grew up in Tel Aviv. After serving in the IDF (discharged with the rank of lieutenant), he studied for a bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Agriculture between 1974-77. He continued his studies for a certified degree in plant genetic improvement at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis), USA. He did his doctoral studies, also on genetics and breeding, at the same university under the guidance of Richard A. Jones. After completing his doctorate in 1982, and without further training, he was accepted as a lecturer in genetics at the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot, where he began to develop his independent scientific research. He rose to the rank of full professor in 1996. He retired in the academic year 2018-2019.
Prof. Zamir's areas of research deal with plant improvement and the development of innovative tools to aid genetic cultivation while mainly using the tomato as a model plant, both for basic research and for the cultivation of improved varieties. These innovative tools included the use of biochemical and molecular markers for genetic mapping, the creation of a series of unique tomato lines (introgression lines), which are an important tool for genetic and applied research in plants, and the interpretation of the genetic and molecular basis of quantitative traits and of complex genetic interactions such as on-hybrids (heterosis) and epistasis. Prof. Zamir established in the Faculty of Agriculture a cultivation system of rose and lisianthus varieties based on innovative genetic and genomic approaches.
Prof. Zamir founded and managed the international consortium Solanaceae Genome Network (SOL), which decoded the tomato genome. He initiated and organized important scientific conferences on genetics and genomics in plants.
Prof. Zamir is also involved in the practical cultivation of tomato varieties. On the basis of original knowledge, he founded the Zereim company (AB Zereim) about twenty years ago. As part of the company, and in collaboration with the "Yishom" company of the Hebrew University, one of California's leading industrial tomato varieties is cultivated. About ten years ago he founded, together with his student Yaniv Semal, the Phenome Networks company that applies computational methods to help genetic cultivation.
Prof. Zamir serves as a consultant and external auditor at important universities and research institutes in the USA, Europe and the Far East, which deal with plant genetics.
Prof. Zamir taught for 35 years the basic course of the basics of genetics at the Faculty of Agriculture as well as advanced courses in genetic breeding. In fact, all the students of the Faculty of Agriculture from 1982 until today (except for the years when he was on sabbatical) studied genetics with Prof. Zamir.
In the years 2003-2009, Prof. Zamir also served as Adjunct Professor at Cornell University, in the USA.
Prof. Zamir has won many research grants, including a particularly prestigious research grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
Prof. Zamir lives in Gadara. He is married and has five children.