Scientists receive $1.45 million grant

to advance bioinformatics for gene research

Researchers at The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Michigan Technological University (MTU) and University of California, Riverside (UCR) recently received a three-year, $1.45 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

• This grant will enable the Noble Foundation’s Patrick X. Zhao, Ph.D., principal investigator, and co-principal investigators, Hairong Wei, Ph.D. (MTU) and Shizhong Xu, Ph.D. (UCR) to develop the formulas and models needed to study how genes or groups of genes (genotypes) are connected to and control the characteristics traits (phenotypes) of plants. This would turn gene data into valuable information for plant breeders to use when breeding improved varieties.

“This grant will help us generate new methods and tools to decipher plant the associations between genes and physical traits. This will further enhance plant breeding programs,” Zhao said. “This is a great opportunity to join with other researchers and combine our expertise to study these associations more in-depth than ever before. Through this collaborative research, we look forward to advancing bioinformatics for the basic plant science research, plant breeding, and ultimately to improving agriculture and our communities.”

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