Michigan State to lead US$10 million DOE research project aimed at boosting camelina yields

In Michigan, Michigan State University will lead a $10 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to explore ways to boost camelina’s crop’s yield. Together, the scientists will generate metabolic models to predict how the plant is converting sucrose, the product of photosynthesis, which eventually produces oil. The team’s overall goal is to achieve up to a 300-percent increase per acre in oil production. Traditional breeding approaches could take as long as 20 years to produce positive results. Taking a genomic approach could cut that time in half.