Genetics

Chronic Wasting Disease, a prion protein disease that is fatal in elk, deer, and other cervids, has spread rapidly across the United States since it was first identified in 1967. CWD has now reached Idaho near the Oregon border, causing concern for the Columbian white-tailed deer, a rare subspecies found only in two regions in Oregon.

Thanks to research breakthroughs by CABBI’s internationally known miscanthus experts and geneticists, this unique plant is poised to be a game-changer on the bioenergy front — and beyond.

Genes are the building blocks of life, and the genetic code provides the instructions for the complex processes that make organisms function. But how and why did it come to be the way it is?

Scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a method to isolate genes from amounts of microbial DNA so tiny that it would take 20,000 samples to weigh as much as a single grain of sugar.

Small grains researcher Juan David Arbelaez-Velez knows the secret to making perfect rice — and it’s not about how you cook it. Arbelaez and his team are investigating the genetic blueprint that determines different grain attributes such as appearance, cooking time, and texture.

How do wildlife researchers know when an endangered population is sick? They can detect infectious microbes in animal waste, but the presence of a microbe doesn’t always equate to impactful symptomatic infections.

Weeds like Palmer amaranth make farming harder and less profitable, and available herbicides are becoming less effective. For scientists to find solutions, they first need to know their enemy.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded

When giant ragweed takes hold in a crop field, the towering weed reduces yield and sends plumes of its famously allergy-inducing pollen into the air. There are few tools available to thwart the menace, especially for farmers growing non-GMO soybeans. Now, some Wisconsin farmers are left with even fewer options. 

Waterhemp is a nuisance for any crop producer, but in snap bean fields, the weed’s stem segments can break off during harvest, contaminating the crop with inedible look-alike “pods.” Vexingly, snap bean is harmed by many of the herbicides registered for waterhemp, leaving producers with few chemical solutions.