URBANA, Ill. – A corn gene identified from a 118-year-old experiment at the University of Illinois could boost yields of today’s elite hybrids with no added inputs. The gene, identified in a recent Plant Biotechnology Journal study, controls a critical piece of senescence, or seasonal die-back, in corn. When the gene is turned off, field-grown elite hybrids yielded 4.6 bushels more per acre on average than standard plants.

URBANA, Ill. – When a dead bat was found in a package of salad greens in 2017, the Florida story spurred product recalls and national media attention. The incident, assumed to be rare, was one of dozens of cases of consumers finding animals – live, dead, or severed – in fresh produce over the past 15 years. A University of Illinois study catalogues and analyzes these incidents as part of a larger effort towards greater food safety and quality improvements in the fresh produce industry.

Champaign, Ill. –– For thousands of years, plants have produced food for humans, but with genetic tweaks, they can also manufacture proteins like Ebola vaccines, antibodies to combat a range of conditions, and now, cellulase that is used in food processing and to break down crop waste to create biofuel.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Human waste might be an unpleasant public health burden, but scientists at the University of Illinois see sanitation as a valuable facet of global ecosystems and an overlooked source of nutrients, organic material and water. Their research is reported in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Read more from the Illinois News Bureau. 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new computer model incorporates how microscopic pores on leaves may open in response to light—an advance that could help scientists create virtual plants to predict how higher temperatures and rising levels of carbon dioxide will affect food crops, according to a study published in a special issue of the journal Photosynthesis Research today.

Read more at the RIPE website.

The Office of International Programs in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) has initiated the Global Food Security Fellows Program to support exceptional students who are interested in conducting food-related research in a developing country. The first cohort of Fellows included four ACES graduate students and three undergraduates. These Fellows will be sharing their experiences on the Voices of ACES blog.  

URBANA, Ill. – Conflict over resource extraction is rampant in sub-Saharan Africa, with small-scale miners violently pitted against multinational mining corporations – and the state security forces that protect them – for access. Attempts to solve the problem by imposing Western environmental systems and regulations aren’t working. But it’s not for the reasons most experts might suspect, according to a new Illinois study.

URBANA, Ill. – A “cyberoctopus” may sound like a superhero, but it is actually the focus of the recently announced multidisciplinary university research initiative (MURI) award led by Girish Chowdhary, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Illinois. The project, funded by the Department of Defense Office of Naval Research, is looking to advance the frontiers of AI, control, and robotics, by learning from the brain and body of octopuses and other cephalopods.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists may have discovered more reasons to love chocolate. A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests that three of the phenolic compounds in cocoa bean shells have powerful effects on the fat and immune cells in mice, potentially reversing the chronic inflammation and insulin resistance associated with obesity. Read more.

URBANA, Ill. – The public will have the opportunity to learn from more University of Illinois scientists than ever before during the 62^nd Agronomy Day on Aug. 22. Researchers and Extension specialists from across the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences will share the latest discoveries and best practices in agronomy and land stewardship.