Review: Rare variants in crops genomes and how to spot them Despite the usefulness of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for linking DNA variation to agronomic traits, GWAS are focused on detecting common alleles and often fail to detect less-common, rare variants. Rare variants may account for…

A Tale of Two Fields Imagine two farmers growing the same drought-tolerant maize variety developed using modern biotechnology. One farmer plants it without hesitation. The crop is approved, seeds are commercially available, and national policies actively support agricultural innovation. The other…

A position in academia is a profound commitment. It is one of those fields where you must constantly consolidate your knowledge just to prepare for the next phase. In a lab setting, the work often extends far beyond a formal job description. Success is usually proportional to the effort invested beyond…

It’s Monday morning. You start the week with a clear goal. Then, in a quick lab meeting, you are told that goals have changed, again. And now your monthly plan must be rewritten to meet new expectations. For the fourth time this year.  It’s an exhausting cycle.…

Climate change brings about higher temperatures, threatening plant populations worldwide. Higher temperatures interfere with reproductive processes such as pollen production or fertilization, even if the plant itself can withstand these temperatures. For example, some plants can withstand temperatures…

Plants and other photoautotrophs have potential to support astronaut needs, including food production, atmospheric and water recycling, and the generation of pharmaceuticals and biofuels. A recent review by Murphy et al. provides a brief historical overview of microalgae and cyanobacteria research in…

The awesome power of metagenomics is providing fascinating insights into the origins of life. Tracing backwards from today’s life forms we can identify features that were likely present in the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), as well as the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA), which arose…

Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are groups of genes physically located in close proximity in a genomic region and can be thought of as a close-knit genomic orchestra. While these BGCs were thought to be rare in plants, unlike bacteria, Peng et al. takes the story a step ahead with the discovery of…