From lab to land: Crop modifications are fortifying our food supply against climate change

ASBMB TODAY - Scientists explore genetic and biochemical innovations fueling future-proofing agriculture. Adapting to changing temperatures Many people think of higher temperatures and heat waves when they think of climate change, but cool seasons are also affected. According to the U.S. Climate Program Office, the expanding Arctic polar vortex —a strong band of winds in...
By Marissa Locke Rottinghaus | ASBMB Today |
CE Advisors & CE Faculty Collaboration Meeting May 23, 2024

CE Advisors & CE Faculty Collaboration Meeting: Exploring Ongoing Agricultural Research at UC Riverside

The University of California, Riverside (UCR) College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) hosted the Cooperative Extension (CE) Advisors and UCR CE Faculty Collaboration Meeting on May 23. CE advisors located in (or serving) over 14 counties across California were invited to learn about the ongoing research by UCR CE faculty to enhance collaboration between...

Californian tree that survived the Ice Age now in grave danger

THE DAILY MAIL - The oldest living organism in California is not a dinosaur or one of its iconic redwoods - it's a small oak shrub that survived the most recent Ice Age. Despite its resilience, the Jurupa Oak is now in danger of going the way of the Dodo, due to devastating wildfires and...
By Alex Hammer | DailyMail.com |

Can gene editing help tackle global issues?

WIRED - THE GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER is a half-inch-long leafhopper that feeds by sticking its straw-like mouth into the watery tissue of plants. The insect is native to northeastern Mexico, but in the late 1980s, it made its way to Southern California. Since its arrival, it has wreaked havoc on the region’s vineyards. Most of the...
By WIRED |

Could applying medical nanotech to crops revolutionize farming?

NEW FOOD - According to a new study from the University of California, advanced technologies that allow for the precise delivery of medicine to specific cells in the body could also benefit agriculture. Scientists have now proposed that these technologies are crucial for growers to meet the increasing global food demands. The study was published...
By Grace Galler | New Food |

Why the spread of organic farms may prompt growers to use more pesticide, not less

LOS ANGELES TIMES - To help California fight climate change, air quality regulators would like to see 20% of the state’s farmland go organic by 2045. That means converting about 65,000 acres of conventional fields to organic practices every year. “We expect an increase in organic in the future,” said study leader Ashley Larsen, a...
By Karen Kaplan | LA Times |

These Plants Can Sound the Alarm in a Toxic World

WIRED - Thanks to some genetic tricks, plants can now speak in color. A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside hacked the natural stress response system in Arabidopsis thaliana, a small white-flowered plant from the mustard family that serves as a common model organism in plant biology labs. When exposed to the...
By Celia Ford | WIRED |

Joshua Tree National Park is more popular than ever — but its namesake trees are facing extinction

VOGUE — In a wilderness area at the northwest corner of Joshua Tree National Park, ecologist Lynn Sweet treks across the high desert as raucous pinyon jays swoop overhead. She navigates carefully across the landscape of blackbrush and fragrant junipers to inspect the stump of a Joshua tree. Much of the tree’s trunk, branches, and...
By Miles W. Griffis | VOGUE |

Q & A with Dr. Xuemei Chen

SCIENCE DIRECT - Xuemei Chen grew up in the northeastern city of Harbin in China and received her BS degree in Biology from Peking University in Beijing. She came to the USA in 1989 to pursue her PhD at Cornell University. Under the supervision of David Stern at the Boyce Thompson Institute, she used molecular...
By ScienceDirect Staff |

Dr. Julia Bailey-Serres: Researching flood resistance in rice and other plants

PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCIENCE PODCAST - Dr. Julia Bailey-Serres is Director of the Center for Plant Cell Biology and Distinguished Professor of Genetics at the University of California, Riverside. She also holds the University of California John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chair and is Professor of Rice Physiology at Utrecht University in the...
By PBtS Staff | People Behind the Science Podcast |
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