In a newly released TED Talk, Stephen Long (BSD/CABBI/GEGC), a professor of plant biology and crop sciences, detailed his and his colleagues’ efforts to boost photosynthesis in crop plants. He described three interventions, each of which increased crop yields by 20% or more.
“I have been lucky enough to receive a few awards throughout my career, but none is more special to me than this.”
The founding plant scientist at the University of Essex, Steve Long (BSD/CABBI/GEGC) returned to Colchester to receive an honorary doctoral degree.
Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations has awarded a grant of $34 million to the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency project, an international research effort led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In its 10-year history, RIPE has demonstrated large increases in crop productivity in replicated field trials on the university farm.
A University of Illinois research team received a $1.85 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to study photosynthesis efficiency in sorghum, an important crop for bioenergy feedstock. The grant is part of a $178 million DOE initiative to advance bioenergy technology.
For the first time, RIPE researchers have proven that multigene bioengineering of photosynthesis increases the yield of a major food crop in field trials. After more than a decade of working toward this goal, a collaborative team led by the University of Illinois has transgenically altered soybean plants to increase the efficiency of photosynthesis, resulting in greater yields without loss of quality.
Over the past few decades, it has become increasingly obvious that fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas, are the biggest contributors to global climate change, accounting for over 75% of greenhouse emissions. If we want to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change, these emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. This goal can only be achieved if we invest in alternative sources of energy that are sustainable and reliable, a realization that led to the establishment of the Energy Biosciences Institute.
In honor of the IGB's anniversary, we're revisiting some of the history of our institute over the past 15 years with a series of articles highlighting IGB people, projects, and research.
Improving crop yields in collaboration with RIPE
Scientists having been breeding plants for over a century with the goal of feeding hungry people across the world. To that end, the Green Revolution in the 1960s used new technologies to increase food production in scale with the population growth. Unfortunately, these increases will not be enough in a few decades.
Six faculty members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2021 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list, including two from IGB.
Millions of people in Asia are dependent on rice as a food source. Believed to have been domesticated as early as 6000 BCE, rice is an important source of calories globally. In a new study, researchers compared domesticated rice to its wild counterparts to understand the differences in their photosynthetic capabilities. The results can help improve future rice productivity.
On October 29th, the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project will be featured on an episode of Follow the Food on BBC World News. Hosted by world-renowned ethnobotanist James Wong, the multimedia series focuses on the biggest pressures on the world food system including RIPE’s central mission of how to feed the growing population, and climate change, which is the focus of the current season.
