44 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2026 I N D U S T R Y N E W S Delivering the news you need to know. Submissions welcome – email us at news@seedworldgroup.com. A $1.5 million Gates Foundation grant to the University of Illinois will expand soybean seed testing and variety registration across sub-Saharan Africa. The funding strengthens the Soybean Innovation Lab’s Pan-African Trials platform, helping speed approvals, support rust-resistant varieties and grow regional soybean markets. Researchers say stronger seed systems could improve food production, trade and global supply chain resilience. New research in Nature Plants describes a viral delivery system that moves a compact gene-editing enzyme through living plants and creates heritable edits without integrating foreign DNA. The approach could reduce reliance on tissue culture, lower costs and improve breeding efficiency. Researchers caution it remains an early demonstration, with major crop-specific challenges still to overcome before commercial use. USDA-ARS and Oregon State University researchers developed PathogenSurveillance, an open-source genomics pipeline that identi fies microbes, pests and pathogens in minutes to hours. Designed for accessible, real-time biosurveillance, it helps labs track emerging threats and genetic variation across crops, forests and urban ecosystems. The platform supports multiple organisms, handles large sample sets and produces visual reports for faster diagnosis. SW North Carolina State University researchers found that corn earworms feeding on blended Bt and non-Bt corn can develop longer, more aerodynamic wings in just one generation. The change may help moths fly farther and spread resistance traits more quickly across farm landscapes. Scientists say the findings raise new concerns that blended corn systems could accelerate resistance and worsen pest pressure in other crops.
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.