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Potato Strain Resistant to Black Dot and Powdery Scab
Did you know that potatoes are not considered vegetables? They are edible tubers. On average, a person eats 73 pounds of potatoes, internationally; Americans eat almost twice that amount at 130 pounds per year!
However, among the four top-most produced crops, potatoes are the easiest targets for various...
Beans! Sharing the Nitrogen Love
Crops have always been plagued by insects, disease, nutrient-poor soil and drought. Now, it seems that one small part of the problem may be solved. One of the critical nutrients that plants require to grow is nitrogen. Nitrogen must be ‘fixed’ in order to turn Nitrogen from the air into a usable...
Preventing the Proliferation of Nematodes with Plants
Originally shipped to the United States in the 1930’s to help reduce soil erosion, the Chinese bush clover (Sericea lespedeza) is now being used to promote the health of pasture-grazing mammals. When the Chinese bush clover is put into pelleted form, it can be added to livestock’s feed. When consumed...
Plant Buffers Prove Productive
Posted by Deepa in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, Health on 02 19th, 2010 | No Comments
The cycle of agricultural life across the globe occurs as a series of chain reactions. Scientists are now becoming acutely aware of the immense cross industrial impacts that stem from a few seemingly harmless practices in the agricultural world. Today’s featured study is one that investigates the impact...
Global Warming and the Decline of Crop Yields
Studies have shown that the yields of many different plant species decrease by as much as 30% when the temperature has surpassed 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Such a profound decline in crop yields would harm producers and consumers alike, and it appears that this problem may get worse with global warming....
Mutations Crucial to Viral Infections
As I was reading this article today, I realized that for some reason I tend to prefer learning about genetic research over other sub disciplines in Biology. The more knowledge we have about the specific functions of genes, the better chance we have of curing genetic diseases. Research into the viral...
Auxin May Provide Stronger Root Systems
Every time I read about agricultural research, I notice that the focus is always on the need for food. More specifically, the need to be able to grow more plants with fewer resources so that we can alleviate world hunger. A lot of the studies I have read and written about focus on cures for fungal infections...
GM Forests: Raising the bar for Timber Production
Posted by Deepa in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, GM Foods on 02 4th, 2010 | No Comments
America has long embraced the wide use and consumption of genetically modified or GM foods in daily life. But now, there seems to be a new buzz in the air about using the benefits of genetically modifying trees to increase the rate of growth in the United State’s southeastern forests.
A proposition...
Sugarcane Afflicted with New Rust Fungi
As humans we have seen and heard about multiple kinds of influenza viruses. Currently, one of the problems caused by H1N1 infection is being able to distinguish the symptoms of a sick person. Doctors and researchers have been trying to figure out the best ways to differentiate the symptoms of H1N1 from...
Soybean Genome Mapped
As I plan ahead for college graduation and graduate school, it is sometimes easy to get carried away and wish for things to be easier and different. Sometimes I just don’t want to be in any more science classes, but I know that success in medical school or graduate school depends on me going back and...
Bundle Up Those Genes – It’s Cold Out!
They say in Texas, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change.” With days that range from 30 degrees to 80 degrees in the winter months, I may have my heat running at full force on a Monday, and then the air conditioner blasting by Friday; but how does this rapidly changing...
Plants as Social beings: an Altruistic Growth
The social behavior of kin recognition has been well studied and understood in the animal kingdom, and recently evolutionary biologists have begun to explore this phenomenon in the plant world.
It is widely recognized that plants have the ability to detect and respond to plants around them. However,...
Help the Kelp
If you have never heard of or seen a kelp forest before, imagine sitting at an ocean floor as numerous columns of macroalgae tower above you and a plethora of marine life forms weave their way in and out of these pillars of plant life. These underwater kelp forests are not just visually breathtaking...
Genetically Modified Plants Yield Resistant Insects
Last week, we discussed genetically modified squash plants that have become more susceptible to bacterial infection because of their modification to resist viral infections; conversely, a report by Andrew Pollack of The New York Times uncovers another case where genetic modification of plants may actually...
Success in the battle to be fresh
At Georgia State University, microbiologist George Pierce has pioneered a new method to preserve freshness in produce and flowers. The method utilizes naturally occurring “soil microorganisms,” which are known to be beneficial to plants in the same way that probiotics in yogurt are to people.
Climacteric...
It Pays To Research: The Benefits Of Maize
We’ve been posting articles every week on the plant research being done to cure diseases, improve economies, and eliminate hunger. Sometimes, however, it’s a good idea to come back and comment on the results from some of the research being done to improve our society. Whether it is to substantiate...
Calculating Pollution from Pesticides
Increased use of pesticides has always been deleterious to coastal habitats, as the pesticide runs off into local streams and rivers that eventually make their way to the coast. Unfortunately, it has always been difficult to measure the pollution that pesticides may cause, and understanding their long-term...
Genetically Modified Plants: Does the Cost Outweigh the Benefit?
Genetically modified plants are usually engineered to benefit a plant species that would benefit us. However, scientists are now discovering that these modified plants might avoid one adversity just to encounter another. Squash plants that have been modified to resist viral diseases are now more susceptible...
Ask yourself: What can your spice rack do for you?
Posted by Deepa in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, GM Foods on 10 28th, 2009 | No Comments
In the wild, what we think of as spices are actually a key component to a plant’s defense mechanism. Now, Dr. Murray Isman of the University of British Columbia recently published a study on these organic pesticides that has produced fruitful results. The research has shown that common household spices,...
Nanotechnology: Colossal steps into the future
Ever since the Silicon Valley technology boom of the nineties, the phrase “nanotechnology” has attained a special place in the science world’s colloquial vocabulary.
Proposed devices implementing nanotechnology include LED contact lenses, improved fiber optics, and increasingly faster...
Seeds Yield Nutritional Value
Most agricultural studies focus on improving crop yield or preventing the adverse effects of environmental conditions. Other studies, however, focus on increasing the nutritional value of crops. Phillipe Seguin and his fellow researchers from various universities and governmental agricultural agencies...
Corn Ethanol Production: Boon or Bane?
Posted by Deepa in Agriculture, Bio Fuels, Environment, Featured Articles on 10 16th, 2009 | No Comments
In the October issue of the journal BioScience, David Flaspohler and Joseph Fargione published their analysis on the impact of biofuel-dedicated land consumption on various wildlife populations throughout the grasslands. The journal article addressed the long term effects of America’s focus on biofuel...
The Greener the Better
Whether consuming green vegetables raw or cooked, these colorful plants provide us with many essential nutrients. I have always heard, “The greener the vegetable, the better the nutritional value,” but scientists from The University of Nottingham are presently conducting research that could possibly...
Sharing is not always caring
Remember when our kindergarten teachers taught us the age-old, seemingly irrefutable rule that “sharing is caring”?
Well, in the case of weeds and their genetically modified crop brethren, a new study in the October issue of the American Journal of Botany has proven that not only is this rule a bad...
Tattoos: No Longer Just a Form of Artistic Self-Expression
While making my weekly trip to the grocery store, I always tell myself that I will make this trip quicker than the last, but one section of the store never fails to ruin my goal for speediness – the produce section.
Unlike other food aisles, the produce section requires a little more effort than just...
The Development of Massive Maize
Researchers at the University of Illinois have found a gene that could lead to a much larger biomass of corn. The gene involved in their huge (no pun intended) research is named Glossy 15. Glossy 15, as its name may suggest, gives corn seedlings a waxy coating to protect the seedling from the sun. However,...
Water Stress Reduction through Ancient Barley DNA
The state of Texas is currently experiencing its most enduring drought since the 1950’s, severely hurting its agricultural industry. Due to burned out crops, yields of Texas fields have been significantly reduced. With fewer crops, farms are unable to support their livestock. Agricultural losses are...
ZFNs Provide More Accurate Means for Creating GMOs
Posted by Pallavi in Agriculture, Featured Articles, GM Foods, Research on 07 30th, 2009 | No Comments
In June we read about a revolutionary new technique for creating genetically modified plants without the use of external DNA. The article (http://www.greenseedling.com/2009/06/17/new-method-of-gene-modification/) illustrated the research done with “zinc finger” nucleases. The nucleases allow genes...
The cost of carbon: Cyanide infused Cassava
Posted by Deepa in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, Health on 07 29th, 2009 | No Comments
New Scientist Magazine recently published an article discussing the detrimental impacts of increased carbon dioxide emissions on the cassava plant. Cassava is known to be an important dietary component for over half a billion of the world’s impoverished population. It is especially popular in the drier...
A Rise in Ozone Levels Yields a Rise in Hunger
Posted by Amar in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, Health on 07 28th, 2009 | No Comments
Many of us use the word “hungry” to describe how we are feeling at least once a day. To some, “hungry” is the sensation felt ten minutes before their lunch break. To others, “hungry” is waiting thirty minutes at an upscale restaurant for an exotic dish. However, to 1.02 billion people on...
Synthetic Fertilizer’s Innocent Façade
At first glance, looking at a chart of worldwide agricultural production since the introduction of synthetic fertilizer would lead you to believe that our agricultural processes have never been more efficient, profitable, and positive. China’s grain yield per acre increased 98 percent in the 28 years...
Let the Salty Waters Run
Posted by Deepa in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, GM Foods on 07 15th, 2009 | No Comments
In a world full of worry over food scarcity, energy shortages, and fading non-renewable resources, plant biologists continue to bring us hope. This time that hope comes in the form of salt-tolerant crops.
A team of researchers, let by professor Mark Tester at the University of Adelaide’s Waite...
Nourishment via Herbicide?
Although many people may not realize it, almost every meal eaten by the average American contains a fair amount of corn. Home-cooked goodness and fast food alike, corn is a staple of the American diet. But where exactly is the corn if we can’t see it in our dinner of say, hamburgers and soda? Corn...
Creation of Super Plants
With the constant struggle to improve agricultural yield and provide solutions for our impending global hunger problems, scientists are working harder than ever to discover new means to create more efficient agricultural processes.
A recent study has made a significant leap towards producing crops without...
New Method of Gene Modification
Posted by Pallavi in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, GM Foods on 06 17th, 2009 | No Comments
When I first learned about modifying genes in my high school biology class I found it a fascinating, yet scary concept. Learning about how DNA works allowed researchers to develop a method of inserting foreign DNA into organisms, a potential solution to many genetic problems. I remember when we inserted...
Forget the Charcoal! Go Bananas!
Posted by Sarah in Agriculture, Bio Fuels, Environment, Featured Articles on 06 2nd, 2009 | No Comments
The banana peel seems to have universal “appeal” in cartoon episodes. Whether a character slips and skids across the sidewalk or falls into the nearest trash can or mud puddle, loose banana peels somehow always lead to a cartoon character’s slippery demise. So in reality, where do all of the...
Organic or Not?
Posted by Pallavi in Agriculture, Environment, Featured Articles, Health on 05 28th, 2009 | No Comments
A note to start: the following isn’t a plant research article, it’s more of an opinion piece on a topic I feel is quite crucial for us, as consumers, to understand.
Earlier in the year we read about how easy it is to get tricked by fake organic milk. Recently I’ve noticed a higher surge of organic...
The Herbicide for Organic Plants
The products at your local grocery store are deemed organic if they fulfill certain requirements, including no use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides. So how exactly can organic plants remain organic if we use something to get rid of pesky weeds? The answer is to, quite simply, use an...
Getting Funky with the Fungicides
Green is the new Black. With the slue of “green” products raining down on us these days we’ve discovered that anyone in almost any occupation can use an environmental upload. The latest development in greening our world is that farmers too, have found a way to green their routine.
Green Fungicides,...
Why Fertilization Causes Lower Bio-diversity
Recently, in my psychology class, I learned about different types of psychological disorders, including various types of depression. One of these really caught my attention, called SADD or Seasonal Affective Disorder Depression.
People who suffer from SADD become depressed when they don’t get exposed...
The strain of Nitrogen-fixing bacteria matters
As we walk around the produce at a grocery store, we tend to forget how fortunate we are to live in a global society and how unusual it is to have access to exotic fruits and vegetables that grow halfway around the world. Globalization has not only brought animals and plants out of their local niches,...
Criminalization of Marijuana and the Drug War
Posted by Pallavi in Agriculture, Featured Articles, Health, Marijuana Special Topic Week on 04 21st, 2009 | No Comments
[All this week, GS will be covering stories on Marijuana - its traditional uses, basic biology, criminalization, neurological effects and more. Join us all this week for our in depth study of this fascinating, controversial plant!] Though most gardeners rarely think about it, in the U.S., growing the...
Harmful Effects of Herbicides…And Not Just To People
Ever since I was little, my mom told me not to walk behind smokers. Even now, when I’m walking around campus, I automatically speed up to pass a smoker in front of me. My desire not to become sick, aggravate my allergies, or potentially get cancer because of someone else’s secondhand smoke is a typical...
Present Hardship May Stem Food Supply Crisis
Gonzalo Oviedo, a senior advisor on social policy with the World Conservation Union, recently performed a compilation study based on various British and American sources on the agricultural state of affairs regarding the global food shortage. He analyzed the subject from the standpoint of environmental...
Anti-toxic tobacco…an oxymoron? Think again.
Given that 20% of the world’s population consists of smokers, cigarettes have become the single largest contributing factor to preventable and premature death around the world today. This is a fact that has been proven time and time again by numerous scientific studies, some of which have even been...
Plantifreeze – Antifreeze Makes Its Agricultural Debut
Leaving my car in Houston for months at a time while I venture to Austin for school never really has a positive impact on my car. When I get back to Houston, excited to drive my car that I haven’t seen in so long, I get in, try to start it up, and it magically works. The months apart should leave the...
Economic Impact of Agricultural Research
In our articles on agriculture, we have primarily focused on research, plant biology and its biological and agricultural impacts. Today, I want to take us in a different direction. It’s crucial that we also assess the economic impact of agricultural research. Why is agricultural research important?...
Bzzzz..Watch out plants!
Ever since I was a child, I have had an extreme phobia of insects. Some children are afraid of snakes, others of dogs, but for me it was always the droning sound of an insects wings flapping near a light in my house that got me into true panic mode. From cockroaches to spiders and everything else in...
Were Grapes Not ‘Delicious’ Before?
A new muscadine grape cultivar named ‘Delicious’ (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.) has been introduced by University of Florida researchers. Of course, this most likely means that this new grape is delectable, but the appetizing new species of grapes has other benefits for us all.
First of all, the grape...
Are Roots More Important Than Leaves for Plant Growth?
We have talked a lot about various research that tries to find methods of making crop yield more efficient. These studies usually attempt to discover something they believe can be done experimentally to produce more crops. Well, the U.S. Corn Belt has had a significant yield increase over the past few...
Radio Waves Prevent Frosty Plants
A new system to fight frost on plants incorporates radio frequency technology. The radiant heating system, developed by Raytheon Technology, serves as a more efficient way to heat crops and prevent frost. Without heating the air between it and the plants, the Tempwave system delivers energy to the plants...
And We Thought Sunscreen Was Only For People
It is a commonly known fact that ultraviolet light can be harmful to human skin. Most of us tend to use sunscreen lotion or sun-blocks, and Australians supposedly even wear huge hats when they know that they will be out in the sun for long. We never really pause to think of other organisms, though; do...
Why Exactly Can’t I Eat Peanut Butter?
Your peanut butter might taste the same, but you might not feel the same after eating it. I remember when my dad called me after he heard about the peanut butter issues going on around the nation. He forbade me from eating peanuts and peanut butter, telling me my health is more important than my guilty...
Huanglongbing: More than Just an Onomatopoeia
The discovery of an efficient method of sequencing DNA genomes has been one of the most important biological breakthroughs of this era. It has led to an exponential increase in finding ways of treating genetic disorders in humans as well as discovering the means of preventing infection by sequencing...
Diversity Is Good, Even for Plants
Since the Civil War in the latter half of the 19th century, some people in our nation have strongly pushed for diversity in the workforce and in schools. However, pushing for diversity was never really considered in modern agriculture, until recently, that is.
It is a widely known fact that nitrogen...
Rice Tungro Disease: Solution Available
Over the course of the year, we have talked a lot about rice; it’s an eye opening phenomenon for me to think of how much research is conducted over one crop. There are new problems being diagnosed and fixed constantly to help increase rice yield. For example, a recent study shows that a single virus...
Cereal may be the solution to our food supply woes
The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen German Research Center for Environmental Health has been researching the genetic sequence of the African plant Sorghum, commonly known as milo. According to Dr. Klaus Mayer, the center is focusing the study on this particular species because, as a C4 plant, its analysis...
Nourishing Soil with Coal Ash
Tons of coal fly ash are added to soils in the United States to nourish vegetables and increase crop yields. But wait, doesn’t that say “coal?” For many years, soil manufacturers have used coal fly ash in their soil and compost products. Coal fly ash, more specifically, is a powder recovered from...
New Technique Developed to Help Fight Mold
Last weekend, I took a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some strawberries, among other things. However, one distraction led to another and I didn’t quite make it to putting the pack in the refrigerator. A couple days later, I came back to find that I shared a common love for strawberries...
More Research on Rice Yield: Answer to Global Hunger?
A couple of months ago, we discussed current research aimed at improving rice yield. We heard of genes that helped grow bigger, fatter crops, we read about methods to aid rice growth in flood conditions, and we also learned how rice varieties could withstand drought conditions.
In the process of rice...
Is That a Hair in My Salad?!?
Have you ever watched a beautician or barber clean up the floor after your haircut? Some sweep the discarded locks of hair into a nearby dustpan, while others push the hair into a vacuum nestled into the baseboard; but the ultimate question still stands – Where does of all of this hair really...
Bringing Retro Back… Agriculturally
Every year, I hold within me a desire that disco will make a comeback. I often sit in class, dreaming about how amazing it would be to do a classic disco move at a party and not be avoided as if I’m bringing the bubonic plague back, rather than a simple dance step. When all hope seemed to be lost,...
Upcoming fashion: Clothes made from chicken feathers!
We’ve spent the last few months talking about the innovative research being conducted around the world to increase agricultural yield of various plants. This increase also means an increase in agricultural byproducts. It is always around Christmas every year when I realize the duality of acquiring...
Insecticides: Killing the Innocent
Two of the most common ways to minimize pests in crop fields are spraying insecticides and the use of Bt-toxin plants. Bt-toxin plants are plants that contain genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (hence the “Bt”). The genes from Bt, when inserted in a plant, produce a toxin that kills...
Cultivating the Most Nutritional Grains
Recently I’ve noticed the word ‘wholegrain’ on most breads, cereals and crackers at the grocery store. Even white bread is now ‘wholegrain’ white bread. What started this trend? Why does that one word automatically make the same white bread seem more nutritionally appealing? It’s because...
Doubling Rice Yields in Drought-affected Areas
Yesterday we talked about increasing rice yield under flood conditions, scientists seem to really be making sure that Rice crops stay healthy under all natural catastrophic conditions.
India and Thailand have both seen droughts in recent days, and droughts lead to, of course, lack of agricultural production....
Rice Plants Can Now Survive Under Water
We talked earlier about researchers finding a gene in Rice plants that allows for more nutritional uptake and create bigger, healthier rice grains. Considering the fact that rice does happen to be the most consumed grain on the planet it’s important to research every possible aspect that can aid in...
Hybrid Plants Lead to a Plethora of Planted Peppers
Bad alliterations aside, hybrid plants seem to be the new future for farmers in the American Southwest. A recent study has shown that 70% of fresh peppers in the US come from Mexico, and another 18% come from Canada. Our nation seems to live by kicking up their food a notch with peppers, which makes...
Roots Don’t Grow There!
Two weeks ago, we talked about how scientists have discovered the proteins and promoter sequences in plants responsible for the growth of root offshoots. Well, it seems like science today is moving forward as fast as technology does.
Pankaj Dhanukshe, a researcher from Ultrecht University, has now discovered...
Too Much of a Good Thing: Organic Fertilizer Edition
We all know that there is such thing as “too much of a good thing.” As a kid, I loved walking into one of those novel candy shops straight out of a corny, old movie and indulging in the tons of sugar around me. I loved feasting on Halloween night after hording tons of candy from neighbors, friend’s...
Vegetables : Hey you, turn that light out!
Forget what you’ve heard about increasing the shelf-life of that broccoli (well, would you even want to?), because a recent study at the University of La Rioja has shown that the illuminating light above certain green (or otherwise un-pigmented) processed vegetables in supermarkets actually decreases...
The Mechanism to Control Root Offshoots
I remember when I was little, every time I would eat a vegetable, my brother would jump up and say, “Ewww, you just ate a root, it came from under the ground, where all those animals poo and dead bodies go!” And slowly but surely I learned to dislike eating roots; in fact, as I took more and more...
Even Plants Play the Mating Game
New studies conducted on plant mating have concluded that humans may not be the only species rejected by the opposite sex. According to researchers from the University of Missouri, pollen proteins may contribute to a signaling process that determines if a female plant accepts or rejects certain pollen...
Newly Discovered Gene Increases Starch in Rice
Unknowingly for the last few centuries, humans have selectively been increasing the gene frequency of a gene in rice that helps produce healthier and bigger grains. Researchers from Penn State and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found a gene, GIF1, that is responsible for essentially increasing...
Don’t Worry, Plant a Walnut Tree
A study done by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has shown that walnut trees do not have to go out on weekends to relieve stress. Instead, they emit their own aspirin-like chemicals to deal with stress. It turns out that when walnut trees are faced with unfavorable conditions such...
Genome Sequencing saves $50 billion annually!
As consumerism increases and resources dwindle it becomes necessary to find ways to protect crops from damage. A microscopic worm called Meloidogyne hapla is a parasite more commonly known as northern root-knot nematode. On average, this parasite along with the help of its friends (other root-knot nematodes)...
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