Making real a biotechnology dream: nitrogen-fixing cereal crops
As food demand rises due to growing and changing populations around the world, increasing crop production has been a vital target for agriculture and food systems researchers who are working to ensure there is enough food to meet global need in the coming years. One MIT research group mobilizing around this challenge is the Voigt lab in the Department of Biological Engineering, led by Christopher Voigt, the Daniel I.C. Wang Professor of Advanced Biotechnology at MIT. For the past four years, the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) has funded Voigt with two J-WAFS Seed Grants. With this support, Voigt and his team are working on a significant and longstanding research challenge: transform cereal crops so they are able to fix their own nitrogen. Chemical fertilizer: how it helps and hurts Nitrogen is a key nutrient that enables plants to grow. Plants like legumes are able to provide their own...