Research

As global food demand continues to grow, researchers are exploring multiple strategies to boost crop productivity. While engineering plant enzymes and biochemical pathways that are more efficient remains a transformative goal, this review highlights another promising approach: increasing Rubisco...

A team from the University of Illinois has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming, showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions. This adaptation may provide greater food security for families dependent on potatoes, as these are...

 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In a new study conducted by the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked back in time at soybean growth and...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Thin, stretchy skin — like that of a pig or human — significantly lessens the underlying damage that occurs when it’s punctured. Pig skin even outperforms synthetic materials that are designed to mimic skin, a new study finds. Its special qualities, in particular its ability to...

When Carl Bernacchi was completing his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois some 20 years ago, Illinois was globally referred to as a “photosynthesis powerhouse.” Today, thanks to Bernacchi and other world-class researchers...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tackled a thorny problem: How do nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival? By looking at all three stressors together, the scientists found that...

Drought stress has long been a limiting factor for crop production around the world, a challenge exacerbated by climate change.For more than a century­, scientists have targeted a key plant trait known as water use efficiency (WUE) to help crops grow with less water and avoid suffering from drought...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —  I can barely hear Esther Ngumbi over the roar of greenhouse fans as she shows me around her rooftop laboratory in Morrill Hall. The benches are full of tomato plants, and the tomatoes don’t look good. Half of the plants are submerged in bins of water. Their leaves are yellow...

Researchers at the University of Illinois have contributed to a large-scale international study that has reconstructed a comprehensive "tree of life" for flowering plants.  The study offers new light on the evolutionary history of angiosperms, which account for approximately 90 percent of all...

The past attempts of honey bee researchers to inventory the fungal diversity in honey bee colonies revealed that Aspergillus flavus is frequently found in hives. In a new study, researchers have discovered that this fungus is uniquely adapted to survive in bee colonies.The...