Many of us have heard that soybeans are being used for an increasing number of products these days, especially with the rise of vegans and vegetarians in America, but how many of us know what makes soy special?

At Purdue, they understand that soy serves a number of purposes that will only increase in the years to come. For this reason, they have put quite a bit of research and effort into finding ways to hone and improve the types of soybeans produced, and the way in which this is done.

Assistant professor of agronomy at Purdue University recently discovered the soybean gene that controls plant stem growth post-flowering. After a long pursuit to find a way to create new, more diverse types of soybeans, it seems that this discovery may be the critical find that many have anticipated.

The findings of this study show that manipulation of the Dt1 gene in soybean plants will allow farmers to grow both indeterminate and determine soybean plants, where previously they could plant indeterminate in the North and determinate in the South.

The details and further ramifications of the study are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Discussion question: What are limitations on soybeans now? How might this discovery change the face of the American soybean industry?

News Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100427142144.htm
Journal Article: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/04/20/1000088107