A Shrubbier Version of Rubber - Andrew Nelson and Colleen McMahan

Right now, our natural rubber comes from just one tree species: Hevea brasiliensis. It’s great at producing latex that becomes rubber, but it’s vulnerable to disease and climate shifts. So researchers are looking into a desert shrub that’s native to North America: guayule. This episode was made in collaboration with our friends at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.Links from this episode:Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI : http://jointgeno.me/proposals  Join us at the 2023 JGI User Meeting: http://jointgeno.me/JGI2023 Find all episode transcripts on our websiteHudsonAlpha Institute's Tiny Expeditions PodcastGuayule: Can genetics create a natural US rubber source?Our contact info:Twitter: @JGIEmail: jgi-comms at lbl dot gov