June 3, 2013

Better Corn the Goal of $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation

In 2008, Jeff Chen caused a stir in the world of plant biology when he identified a key mechanism of “hybrid vigor” in the common experimental plant, Arabidopsis.

Now, thanks to a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, he and his colleagues are expanding their investigation of hybrid vigor to corn, which is the biggest crop in the United States. Advances in understanding hybrid vigor in corn could lead to big increases in yield.… read more