Basic science solves global problems in agriculture

Basic science led Venkatesan Sundaresan, a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, to find a new, faster way to develop high-yield crops. This prize-winning work of Sundaresan, aided by colleague Imtiyaz Khanday, an assistant professor in the department, is featured today in From Labs to Lives, a UC Davis campaign to highlight the importance of federal funding for basic research at universities like ours.

That's because, if you eat rice, strawberries or beef, you can thank a researcher from the University of California, Davis. In partnership with the federal government, UC Davis scientists like Sundaresan and Khanday have made these foods tastier, more resistant to disease and drought, more profitable for growers and better for the planet.

For people with ALS, Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions, that same partnership is leading to discoveries and therapies that help manage people's symptoms and may eventually lead to cures.   

For decades, the federal government has relied on top-tier research universities like UC Davis to carry out laboratory research, clinical trials and fundamental science that advance human, animal and planetary health, make the food supply safer and healthier, and improve our understanding of the world.

Much of this research happens with little fanfare.

But since the new administration took office early this year, the federal government has retreated from the partnership that makes this research possible, endangering medical and scientific breakthroughs, economic growth and the United States’ leadership as the global scientific powerhouse. Dozens of federal grants already have been canceled, and the federal government has moved to cut administrative support for ongoing work.

“Critics of basic research call the work wasteful, suggesting it’s a luxury we can’t afford in a time of tight national budgets,” UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May said in a recent “Chancell-ing” column. “However, this seemingly undirected exploration leads to unpredictable breakthroughs that create new industries and solve problems we didn't even know we had.”

At UC Davis, federal funding is the largest source of research support. According to a newly released report, the federal government accounted for about 47% of research funding to UC Davis in fiscal 2024-25, ahead of state and private industry funding.

Every dollar spent on research at UC Davis generates more than $2 for California's economy. The university’s total spending of $955 million on academic research generates $2.1 billion statewide, and 4,316 jobs in academic research lead to a total of 9,577 jobs statewide, according to an economic impact analysis released earlier this year.

In the last fiscal year, UC Davis had a surge in records of invention, or ROIs, filing 187, up from 140 the prior year. An ROI serves as the initial step in evaluating the potential for patents and commercialization. 

Raising awareness: Research is important!

UC Davis launched From Labs to Lives in February to increase public understanding of the value of university-led research. The campaign spotlights researchers who are improving lives through their work across fields — from medicine to food, agriculture to technology.

“Without continued funding, we risk losing critical insights into how stress shapes family health, leaving communities vulnerable to the long-term effects of chronic stress,” said Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, an associate professor in the College of Biological Sciences who studies how chronic stress affects parents’ brain health.

“If we stop funding research, we won’t just lose knowledge. We’ll lose the next generation of scientists who would have made the world a better place.”

The work of Sundaresan and Khanday is just one example groundbreaking research at UC Davis made possible by federal funding.

Federally funded discovery benefits farmers

In 2024, the Wolf Foundation honored Sundaresan with a Wolf Prize in Agriculture, considered by many the Nobel Prize for agriculture. He was recogized for his groundbreaking molecular research on plant reproduction, which led to a method for producing clonal seeds from hybrid plants. The method mimics a process called apomixis that occurs naturally in many plants, including blackberries, dandelions and many citrus species. Apomixis allows plants to bypass sexual reproduction, resulting in plants that are genetically identical from one generation to the next.

Sundaresan and his team developed "synthetic apomixis." The method is a boon to agriculture because it simplifies generating high-yielding, hybrid crops without going through the costly process of crossing different strains. The team first developed the method in rice and have since demonstrated its efficacy in maize. Now, they’re in the process of planning field trials to test the method at a larger scale.

The research has funding from the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture.

The breakthrough has enormous implications for farmers who can't afford to buy hybrid seed year after year, Sundaresan said.

“With these clonal hybrids, farmers can save some of their harvested seeds and replant them for the next year’s crop,” Sundaresan added. “This is very good news for smallholder farmers in developing countries.”

Sundaresan added that the concept of apomixis in a crop plant is decades old. Gurdev Khush, another celebrated scientist, organized a conference on apomixis for future rice breeding in 1994. Khush is now an emeritus adjunct professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.

“The eventual realization of this dream," Sundaresan continued, "was built upon the foundation of a fundamental understanding of plant reproduction, achieved through the efforts of many talented lab members and collaborators over several years.”

In particular, Sundaresan said, Khanday was pivotal to the project’s success. He credited Khanday’s “creativity and perseverance in the face of setbacks, and dedication in pursuit of the final goal.”

Sundaresan also holds a position in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology.