Gene discovery could shave years off avocado breeding
Scientists have found a genetic switch that could shave years off avocado breeding by allowing researchers to identify one of a young tree's most important traits long before it flowers.
Scientists have found a genetic switch that could shave years off avocado breeding by allowing researchers to identify one of a young tree's most important traits long before it flowers.
Minor cuts and scrapes usually heal in time, but losing a finger or a whole limb? For most vertebrates, that's a done deal. Unless, of course, you've got the self-healing machinery of an axolotl.
Gene editing is a highly precise and powerful technology that allows scientists to insert, delete, modify or replace DNA bases in living organisms. It has a variety of uses, including correcting disease-causing mutations ...
The way to make a plant grow more may be to take something away. Trimming a section off a plant gene raised rice harvests by up to 25% in new tests by University of Chicago scientists. The plants also showed a better tolerance ...
When scientists want to create a protein that can potentially treat disease, one approach is to begin with a different protein and evolve it in the lab, selecting over many generations for versions with a new, desired function.
The European Union adopted new legislation on plants obtained through certain new genomic techniques in June 2026. The new framework will apply after a two-year transition period. It distinguishes between two categories. ...
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a new way to add large pieces of genetic information to plants, overcoming a challenge that has limited plant biotechnology for decades. ...
The American chestnut tree was a dominant and iconic species in many Appalachian forests until it was devastated by an introduced fungus from Asia called chestnut blight.
Feeding a growing global population is no longer enough. Scientists say the next generation of crops must also deliver better nutrition while withstanding the increasing impacts of climate change.
Scientists have successfully edited the genome of biting midges, opening the door to new research on how these insects transmit disease. Culicoides biting midges are small blood-feeding insects responsible for spreading important ...