果冻传媒麻豆社

To Tana Rayburn, creating that first genetically modified crop as an undergraduate student at the 果冻传媒麻豆社 was akin to working magic.

Students such as Rayburn who pursue U of I鈥檚 biotechnology and plant genomics bachelor鈥檚 degree have the opportunity to learn skills more commonly taught at much larger schools or in graduate programs. The U of I program covers general molecular techniques and gives students a broad background to help them pursue careers in an array of cutting-edge fields.

Prepared for the Future

In Rayburn鈥檚 case, she was so well prepared by the undergraduate program, which she completed in December 2020, that she was allowed to move directly into a Washington State University Ph.D. program. In her doctoral program, she鈥檚 researching metabolic pathways to better understand the regulation of flavin production in stress responses.

Rayburn admits she used to be an opponent of biotechnology before she learned details of the science and the possibilities that it offers to help society tackle some of the greatest challenges lying ahead.

Prior to enrolling at U of I, she earned an associate degree in botany at a community college. Her initial experience making genetic transformations came during her first semester at U of I, in her plant tissue culture class. Using agrobacterium, which can modify a plant鈥檚 genome in the wild to make the environment more hospitable for themselves, she created tissue cultures from leaf cuttings, inserting a gene of interest. That gene causes plantlets soaked in a special chemical cocktail to turn blue.

鈥淭hat plant tissue culture course showed me you can do incredible things with plants that I never thought were possible,鈥� Rayburn said.

Rayburn went on to work as an undergraduate researcher with Joseph Kuhl, associate professor in the U of I Department of Plant Sciences. In Kuhl鈥檚 lab, she made transgenic potato plants on a weekly basis.

鈥淚t was wild. I remember calling my mom and telling her, 鈥業鈥檓 going to make GMOs,鈥� and it was this crazy exciting thing,鈥� Rayburn said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a really unique degree program they offer. I feel really prepared to do a number of different projects.鈥�

Students in the program learn the ropes of scientific techniques such as gene silencing, gene cloning and CRISPR. No longer are plants merely viewed as food sources. They鈥檙e now used for making biofuels and even pharmaceuticals.

鈥淲e are providing students with the curriculum and academics and training and experience in one of the leading areas in plant sciences, which is biotechnology,鈥� Kuhl said.

A Growing Field

Biotechnology and plant genomics used to be offered as one of four emphasis areas under a single major 鈥� sustainable cropping in landscape systems 鈥� before U of I鈥檚 former Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences was trifurcated to create a standalone Department of Plant Sciences in 2018.

Out of that department, the university also created separate departments for soil and water systems and entomology, plant pathology and nematology. Kuhl believes students weren鈥檛 fully aware of their options under the old format. Enrollment in the new degree has risen from 5-6 students under the old format to 15-20 students now that it鈥檚 offered as an independent major.

That growth has placed U of I on the radars of major employers, such as J.R. Simplot, Co., that once looked to bigger schools for biotechnology talent.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e now realizing U of I is producing high-quality students, and they鈥檙e hiring,鈥� Kuhl said.

Allan Caplan, associate professor of plant sciences who also teaches courses for the biotechnology and plant genomics major, emphasized the program teaches skills that cross over into other disciplines, such as human healthcare.

鈥淲e have an active and functional program to train people in these cutting-edge fields,鈥� Caplan said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have to go out of state. They can get a lot of what they can get elsewhere here.鈥�

Nina Clark earned bachelor鈥檚 degrees in molecular biology and biotechnology and microbiology at U of I. In 2021 she started working as an assistant scientist involved in Simplot鈥檚 program that uses editing of genes native to the potato genome to breed better and more resistant potatoes.

鈥淓specially at U of I, the biotech courses are taught so well and so thoroughly,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淎t Simplot I caught on to concepts so easily. That鈥檚 because I鈥檇 done it before.鈥�

Though it鈥檚 offered under U of I鈥檚 College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Clark recommends the biotechnology and plant genomics major to any students interested in understanding the science of human genetics.

鈥淭hose classes and those skills are what you鈥檙e going to need if you鈥檙e going to go into medicine 鈥� if you鈥檙e going to go into human science at all,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淧lants are the best model organisms we have.鈥�

Mallory Antunez, who grew up in the Boise area, graduated with a biotechnology and plant genomics bachelor鈥檚 degree from U of I in 2019 before enrolling in a biology master鈥檚 program at Southeast Missouri State University. She had a significant head start compared with her classmates.

鈥淚 got to graduate school and I was like, 鈥榃ow, this is way easier than I thought it was going to be,鈥欌�� Antunez said. 鈥淚 was so well prepared for it. I almost got bored in graduate school because I鈥檇 already done a lot of the stuff.鈥�

Antunez recently accepted a job working as a biological science technician with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Aberdeen.