In 2010, almost 10 years after the human genome sequence was completed, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in California in partnership with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Alabama completed the soybean genome sequence. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. farmers saw an average soybean yield of 39.6 bushels per acre in 2012 – up from 31.5 bushels per acre in 1982. Since the soybean genome has been completed scientific breakthroughs will be making even higher yields a reality. Researchers at the University of Missouri and Southern Illinois University have found a previously unknown gene that is resistant to the soybean cyst nematode which costs U.S. farmers approximately $1 billion in lost yields per year. Perdue University has also found two genes resistant to Phytophthora rot and stem rot. Monsanto has a new soybean cyst nematode resistant variety of seed and Syngeta will also have one on the market in 2015. To read further:
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