Michaela McGinn of CoverCress said planting cover crops is a good practice for the environment, but it costs money, including wear and tear on machinery.
The advantage of pennycress, as it is being developed, is that not only does its growing season fit well between corn and soybeans but it provides nutrients for animal feed as well as oil for biofuels, she said.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Republican from Taylorville, said, “We’re looking ahead to the future,” adding that the research will “benefit the country, not just Illinois.”
Pennycress is not the only biofuels-related research being done at ISU.
David Kopsell, professor of horticulture, and LC Yang, assistant professor of environmental health, recently received a two-year, nearly $150,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue their work on anaerobic digestion of plant wastes in small to medium-sized conventional and organic farming composting operations.
Photos: ISU professor John Sedbrook’s lab engineers pennycress plant
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Maliheh Esfahanian, an Illinois State University PhD candidate from Iran, works with pennycress samples as part of research to improve the plant’s seed and oil production.
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John Sedbrook, Illinois State University professor of genetics, examines a collection of dried pennycress plants in his lab Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. Sedbrook has received another multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund his research to bioengineer properties of the plant for potential fuel production.
Science!
Brice Jarvis, an Illinois State University PhD candidate from Chicago, removes vials of pennycress DNA from liquid nitrogen storage Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in the ISU Science Laboratory Building in Normal.
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Brice Jarvis, an Illinois State University PhD candidate from Chicago, removes vials of pennycress DNA from liquid nitrogen storage.
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Liza Gautam, an Illinois State University PhD candidate from Nepal, worked with pennycress samples as she attempts to improve the plant’s seed and oil production for uses as a potential fuelwhile working in professor John Sedbrook’s lab at the ISU Science Laboratory Building in Normal.
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Vials will hold pennycress samples for CRISPR gene editing in professor John Sedbrook’s lab at the Illinois State University Science Laboratory Building in Normal.
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A bumper sticker in Illinois State University professor John Sedbrook’s lab at the ISU Science Laboratory Building in Normal makes reference to the explosive growth of gene editing techniques that are transforming genetic research around the world.
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John Sedbrook, Illinois State University professor of genetics, and Danny Marchiafava, a master’s of science candidate from Arlington Heights, examine pennycress seeds in Sedbrook’s lab.
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Pennycress seeds in John Sedbrook’s Illinois State University lab represent another potential cash crop for Illinois farmers.
Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota
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