Soybean breeder Rafael Marmo is chasing a game-changing goal: stability. “Think of it like a championship team,” he says. “No single player wins alone — it takes everyone working together.” By mapping the many genes that drive consistent performance, Marmo hopes to deliver soybean varieties that thrive across climates and continents.
He sees the future of breeding as a balance of technology and tradition. “Genomic prediction and AI will keep growing,” he explains in an interview recorded at the National Association for Plant Breeding (NAPB) meeting in Hawaii, “but they’ll support breeders, not replace them. Field experience still matters.”
From his training at Brazil’s Federal University of Lavras to his research at the University of Arkansas, Marmo’s journey reflects the same resilience he hopes to breed into crops. “Plant breeding can change the world,” he says. “It’s about teamwork, challenge, and helping 800 million people facing malnutrition every day.”
