Multimedia Gallery - Basic discovery is key to rapid economic development.

Illustration of a wrench holding a plant protein connected to gasoline, pill bottle, food basket.

May 11, 2012

Basic discovery is key to rapid economic development.

Research into the plant protein, chalcone-isomerase, and its family of proteins that are key in fatty acid production will help bio-engineers to contribute to the fields of agriculture, biomedicine and renewable energy. By bringing about changes in the genes for this protein family, researchers discovered an effect on seed oil content that may be beneficial for both plants and humans.

Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation

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