Innovation Pipeline

Plant researchers have long studied why certain plants survive environmental stresses like drought while others wither and die. Now, with global warming, growing water crises around the world and increased interest in growing plants for biofuels, the question of plant survival is a hot-button issue.
Scientists from the University of California at Riverside made a significant [...]

[Read more →]

When it comes to the merits of counting carbon as a remedy to improve the health of our planet, there’s plenty of room for debate and dissension. It’s also quickly becoming a major obsession and perhaps a real distraction from important policy work that needs to get done.
A recent paper in Science, “Fixing a Critical [...]

[Read more →]

Millions of years of evolution have done wonders for plants and insects when it comes to natural repellents for fending off enemies.
Researcher Christina Engels at University of Alberta in Canada has found that mango seeds have amazing properties when it comes to knocking out lethal food bacteria.
Engels has found a way to put pure mango [...]

[Read more →]

You’ve probably never heard of terpenes but you sure have smelled them. They’re the aroma in many spices like mint and basil. And scientists who study the plant-made molecules have found other nice traits: they repel pests, protect plants from diseases and attract pollinators.
So what do they have to do with cleantech? Plenty.
In an effort [...]

[Read more →]

Rugged microbes equipped with a unique set of survival skills find high-temperature and acidic conditions a welcome home. And scientists have a peculiar fondness for these “extremeophiles,” freaks of nature that live outside the boundaries of normal existence. These are bugs that can grow in the harshest of conditions, from sulphuric acid to high-salt environments.
Part [...]

[Read more →]

The Australian government said yesterday it is trying something new to prevent algae blooms from harming limited supplies of drinking water.
The government is using solar-powered water pumps that sit on the surface of the water in Sydney’s Wrragamba Dam to prevent algae from forming.
It is the first time the Australians have tried using solar-powered water [...]

[Read more →]

California farmers and water-management experts have looked at ways to reuse salty agricultural drainage water in California’s San Joaquin Valley. As it stands now, the excess water needs to be disposed of because of its high salt content and the trace of boron in the water. Both are detrimental to the health of most plants. [...]

[Read more →]

Viruses are known for their ability to marshal extraordinary forces of manipulation. One of those forces is the ability to exchange genes between different viruses and that’s what has plant scientists intrigued by possibilities for new ways to improve crop yields.
An interdisciplinary group of researchers from Vanderbilt University have discovered new insights about the structure [...]

[Read more →]

Nanoparticles are all the rage for a variety of different applications, ranging from treatments for cancer to use in automobile sensors. Trouble is, the manmade nanomorsels have been raising concern about side effects in humans and the environment.
A University of Missouri research team has devised a method for creating nanoparticles that don’t have negative [...]

[Read more →]

A team of Michigan State researchers have identified a new protein that could give a big boost to photosynthesis and help produce large volumes of biofuels.
It involves chloropasts, the workhorses in plants. That’s where sunlight, carbon dioxide and water all get converted into sugars.

The newly discovered protein, trigalactosyldiacylglycerol 4, or TGD4, is considered a significant [...]

[Read more →]