Block I logo
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Photosynthesis & Food Security

Ag + Energy

Environment icon for environment topic

Health + Wellness

Heart icon for Health and Wellness topic

Tech + Society

Technology icon for technology topic

The Photosynthesis & Food Security theme works to improve and future-proof crop photosynthesis to support global food security.

Read More About PFS

PFS Projects

Featured Stories

In a review in the journal Science, Illinois researchers, from left, Carl Bernacchi, Stephen Long and Donald Ort describe the many field- and laboratory-tested approaches to increasing crop resilience in a warming world. Photos by Fred Zwicky and Craig Pessman
Research
Heat-resilient crops are within reach — given enough time and money
Read
CowPEAsy is an open-access interactive web tool that allows researchers to look at specific genes within three levels of the plant canopy during two points of the growing season.
Research
Easy Cowpeasy: RIPE team develops new gene expression tool for cowpea
Read
In a review, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Stephen Long describes potential methods for “future-proofing” crops against climate change. Photo by Fred Zwicky
Research
‘Future-proofing’ crops will require urgent, consistent effort
Read
Andrew Leakey and his colleagues developed an AI tool that uses minimal training to teach itself to distinguish the flowers of thousands of varieties of Miscanthus, a plant used in biofuels production. Photo by Craig Pessman
Research
New approach makes AI adaptable for computer vision in crop breeding
Read
Professor of plant biology Tracy Lawson
Research
Lawson brings renowned plant science expertise to Illinois
Read
A research team led by food science and human nutrition professor Yong-Su Jin combined the special attributes of E. coli with the photosynthetic capabilities of microalgae to take in carbon dioxide and convert it to useful biological chemicals. Photo by Craig Pessman
Research
Microalgae and bacteria team up to convert CO2 into useful products
Read