Maize Content

Maize Researcher Wins Prestigious National Academy of Sciences Prize

Andy Fell — January 23, 2024 - 10:00am

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, a professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis, has been awarded the prestigious National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences for 2024.

A Mixed Origin Made Maize Successful

Andy Fell — November 30, 2023 - 11:00am

Maize is one of the world’s most widely grown crops. It is used for both human and animal foods and holds great cultural significance, especially for Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Yet despite its importance, the origins of the grain have been hotly debated for more than a century. Now new research, published Dec. 1 in Science, shows that all modern maize descends from a hybrid created just over 5,000 years ago in central Mexico, thousands of years after the plant was first domesticated.

Tracking Down the Jumping Genes of Maize

Andy Fell — August 23, 2017 - 2:46pm

The “jumping genes” of maize have finally been mapped by an international team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The discovery could ultimately benefit the breeding and production of maize, one of the world’s most important crops.

Maize Genetics May Show How Crops Adapt to Climate Change

Andy Fell — September 14, 2016 - 1:17pm

With the onset of climate change and changes in irrigation, adapting food crops to grow in diverse environments could help feed the world. Now �°��ϲ��Ļ��Ϣ Davis scientists are leading a major new project, funded by the National Science Foundation with $4.1 million over five years, to study genetic adaptation to different environments in maize.