A corn gene identified from a 118-year-old experiment at the University of Illinois could boost yields of today’s elite hybrids with no added inputs. The gene, identified in a recent Plant Biotechnology Journal study, controls a critical piece of senescence, or seasonal die-back, in corn. When the gene is turned off, field-grown elite hybrids yielded 4.6 bushels more per acre on average than standard plants.
Named after Illinois professor of microbiology Carl R. Woese, who discovered the third domain of life, the mission of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) is to advance life science research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, meaningfully engage with the public to understand the impact of genomic research, and to stimulate bio-economic development in the state of Illinois. We do so by tackling grand challenges in fundamental and applied research with genomics and multi-disciplinary team science.
