Fresh from the Field, Aug. 16, 2018

New Technology Improves CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing in Mosquitoes, Other Species 

A technology designed to improve CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in mosquitoes and other arthropods succeeds with a high degree of efficiency, while eliminating the need for difficult microinjection of genetic material, according to Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) researchers. "Whereas the microinjection apparatus can cost thousands of dollars and require extensive training to use, the equipment for ReMOT Control injections costs approximately $2, and the technique can be learned in less than an hour," according to Penn State Entomologist and project spokesman Jason Rasgon.

NIFA supports the research through Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

Learn more about CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing at Penn State. Photo credit: Image: Rasgon laboratory, Penn State.

NC Cooperative Extension Creates $300 Million Economic Impact 

At North Carolina State University, Cooperative Extension provided local solutions and empowered people to make better-informed decisions in communities across the state. In 2017, extension professionals and volunteers provided 13,000 educational programs to 1.9 million residents, improved the health and well-being of 115,000 North Carolinians through food and nutrition programs, prepared more than 263,000 youth through 4-H programs, and provided $300 million of economic impact to the state.

NIFA supports NC Cooperative Extension.

Learn more about the impacts at the NC State Extension. USDA photo by Preston Keres.

Shedding Light on the Energy Efficiency of Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is one of the most crucial life processes on Earth. It’s how plants get their food, using energy from sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide from the air into sugars. It’s long been thought that more than 30 percent of the energy produced during photosynthesis is wasted in a process called photorespiration.

A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), suggests that photorespiration wastes little energy and instead enhances nitrate assimilation, the process that converts nitrate absorbed from the soil into protein.

Understanding the regulation of these processes is critical for sustaining food quality under climate change,” said lead author Arnold Bloom in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

NIFA supports this research through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. 

Read the full story at UC Davis Blogs. Photo: Getty Images