Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech have developed a new procedure for the efficient transfer of specific DNA sequences into the genome of strawberry. The scientists have used Agrobacterium tumefaciens, nature's genetic engineer, to introduce DNA into the woodland or alpine strawberry Fragaria vesca. The work was funded by a Virginia Tech ASPIRES grant (A Support Program for Innovative Research Strategies).