UMBC’s Biotechnology graduate programs challenge students to think outside the box in order to innovate and solve many complex issues facing humankind.
It’s through the innovative work of researchers that humans have a fighting chance of beating the effects of climate change on our food supply. In today’s Industry News, we take a look at a group of researchers studying ways to improve crops from seed banks. We also take a look at the issue of plastics, AI as a rescuer to our power grids, and how a spider makes its magnificent webs.
Improving Crops
Scientists are investigating whether or not seeds from national gene banks contain genes that could be beneficial to climate change. A research team is exploring a potential way to harness the genetic potential of older seeds.
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What To Do with Plastic Trash?
What to do with plastic trash is the question of our century, and one that sits heavily on the minds of the environmental conscious. A sad new discovery plagues us: 1 to 2 million tons of plastic trash is ending up where it shouldn’t.
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AI To the Power Grid Rescue?
A new software application called the Smart Power Grid Simulator (Smart-PGSim) uses neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence (AI), to efficiently solve power grid simulations crucial for planning and optimizing electricity delivery.
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How a Spider Makes a Web
If you’ve ever walked into a spider web and had to swipe repeatedly to remove it’s strong fibers from your clothing, face, or head, you might wonder how spiders create such a structure. Well, a team of researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Keio University and Kyoto University, has found that liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) drives the process of converting spidroin proteins to spider web fibers.
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