“Here, we have focused our root biology work more on common beans and corn, trying to develop plants that will grow better and improve the food supply in Africa and Latin America. But our research and Yan’s are collaborative and complementary.”

Robert Steele, dean of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, agrees root-biology research is vital to the world’s future. “We are involved, obviously, in a wide range of important agricultural research,” Steele says. “But perhaps none is as crucial as improving food supplies in developing nations where drought and poor soils are a reality. This project is bringing the best scientists from both universities together to tackle this important challenge.”

Lynch expects the world hunger situation to get worse in coming decades as the effects of global climate change become widely felt. “The real challenge is what is coming ahead,” he says. “Droughts are expected to get worse in much of the developing world. It will become increasingly critical for people in those regions to have crops that can grow with little moisture in poor soils. To do that, the plants must have the right root traits.”

—Jeff Mulhollem