Poplar tree discovery ties latitude to cell wall chemistry, offering insights that could help guide future biofuel and biomaterial innovation 🌳.🔗

ORNL scientists developed a new approach to study the molecular makeup of the plant soil environment, yielding data that can drive innovations for better energy and food crops. 🔗 Read more: .

ORNL’s Brian Davison has turned bioenergy research into real-world solutions over his 40-year career. Read more about how he’s scaled lab research into solutions that support U.S. energy security and manufacturing:

ORNL scientists combined machine learning with nanoscale imaging tools to map bacterial biofilms at both the cellular and system level. This advance offers insights that could lead to innovations for medicine, industry and environmental science. Read more:

7️⃣ ORNL’s expertise in microbial and plant engineering can be leveraged to develop enhanced microbes and plants for the recovery of rare earths and minerals, securing new domestic supply chains for these critical materials. 🔗 Read more:

6️⃣ Scientists have discovered & engineered numerous enzymes from microorganisms – ideal for biotechnology applications such as processing and reusing waste to create new sources of primary materials for manufacturing. 🔗 Read more:

5️⃣ Scientists developed augmented microbes that are good at converting plant material into new fuels and products. These new resources could provide a pathway to lower costs and raise efficiency for production of bioproducts. 🔗 Read more:

4️⃣ Scientists analyzed microbial variants from some of the most extreme environments across the globe. Trait mapping these organisms could accelerate the design of custom microbes for various applications. 🔗 Read more:

3️⃣ Researchers created a tool for modifying wild microbes by finding a way to trick them into accepting bioengineered DNA. This technique has been used to engineer at least 25 other microorganisms. 🔗 Read more:

2️⃣ Using AI, quantum biology, and bioengineering, scientists improved how CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tools work on non-model microbes, enabling better predictions for gene editing. 🔗 Read more:

1️⃣ Scientists adapted a DNA-editing tool to quickly insert and test new DNA designs in virtually any microorganism. The tool is now widely used to accomplish microbial engineering in non-model microbes. 🔗 Read more:

Backed by years of experience in microbial engineering for bioenergy production, ORNL is a well-known resource for the customization of microbes. Here are 7 ways our scientists are creating tools that help microbes support the U.S. bioeconomy.⤵️

From engineering resilient, secure crops to reprogramming microbes to produce new fuels, chemicals, and materials, ORNL is driving discoveries that keep the U.S. at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution.

Priya Ranjan, a computational biologist at ORNL, builds AI-enabled predictive tools and models to interpret massive datasets, accelerating discovery and innovation. 🔗 Read more:

ORNL scientists are investigating the interactions between plants and microbes. Why? By better understanding these relationships, they can engineer crops that are more resilient to environmental stressors like heat and drought. Learn more: .

5️⃣ Accelerating new hybrids: Scientists leverage state-of-the-art imaging systems, robotics and AI to develop new plant varieties — faster. A recent "gene-stacking" innovation allows them to insert multiple genes into plants in a single step. 🔗Read more:

4️⃣ Designing plants with purpose: Scientists used large-scale poplar datasets and ORNL's supercomputing resources to quickly identify genes that regulate the tree's cell walls — critical for development of better biofuels and bioproducts. 🔗Read more:

3️⃣Building plant resilience: Scientists discovered a key gene to boost plant-fungal symbiosis, enabling development of crops that can withstand harsh growing conditions, use less chemical fertilizer, and produce more plentiful plants per acre. 🔗Read more:

2️⃣ Boosting crop biosecurity: Researchers developed a system to confirm gene editing activity, accelerating progress on development of hardy bioenergy crops and improving the security of next-generation biotechnologies. 🔗Read more:

1️⃣ Developing larger plants with higher yield: Scientists discovered a naturally occurring gene, Booster, in the poplar tree that enhances photosynthetic activity and significantly boosts plant growth. 🔗Read more: