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Finding Could Help Turn Trees Into Affordable, Greener Industrial Chemicals

Author: Mick Kulikowski

pigs in a pen

Dec 4, 2025

New Statistical Tools Sharpen the Search for Causal DNA Changes in Livestock

New statistical framework could help identify genes that influence important livestock traits. 
A corn earworm caterpillar on an ear of corn.

Dec 1, 2025

Crop Pests Can Develop ‘Fighter-Jet Wings’ After Eating Specific Mix of Corn

Consuming a blend of toxic Bt corn and non-toxic corn can give corn earworm moths longer, more narrow and more tapered wings that can send them long distances. 
Photo of a female German cockroach.

Oct 24, 2025

Cockroach Infestation Linked to Home Allergen, Endotoxin Levels

Eliminating roaches via pest control leads to declines in allergen and endotoxin levels. 
Control room for soil warming.

Sep 16, 2025

Warming Temps Alone Fail to Trigger Increased CO2 Levels From Soil

Higher temperatures combined with added carbon – and added nutrients – led to higher carbon dioxide levels released from the soil. 
Prairie strip growing in wheat at the LTER Main Cropping Systems Experiment.

Sep 8, 2025

Suite of Models Shows Some Positive Effects of Climate-Smart Ag Practices

No-till farming, cover-crop utilization and residue retention can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study using a suite of models. 
A fried egg in a skillet.

Sep 4, 2025

Study Shows Not All Dietary Proteins Are Digested the Same Way

Categorizing dietary proteins as either animal- or plant-based fails to address source-specific differences, new research shows. 
Cotton field

Jun 11, 2025

Study Develops Optimal Cover Crop Adoption Thresholds

New model can help farmers decide whether or not cover crops can be a worthwhile investment. 
Potato leaf with late blight disease.

Jan 24, 2025

Study Points to South America – Not Mexico – as Birthplace of Irish Potato Famine Pathogen

Spud sleuth Jean Ristaino and lab members solve a longstanding mystery into the origin of the Irish potato famine pathogen. 
Powdery mildew on a blueberry plant.

Jan 8, 2025

Blueberries Beware: Powdery Mildew Spreading Across the Globe

Research on fungus spread could help growers predict, monitor and control disease affecting blueberries. 
Researchers with poplar trees in a greenhouse.

Oct 18, 2024

Finding Could Help Turn Trees Into Affordable, Greener Industrial Chemicals

Specific molecular property of lignin in trees determines difficulty of using microbial fermentation to turn trees and other plants into industrial chemicals.