Ron Mittler, professor of biological sciences, led a research study outlining how plants identify stress factors, such as heat, disease or toxins, and signal to the rest of the plant to defend itself against those incoming stressors. Mittler worked with Vladimir Shulaev, professor of biological sciences, and researchers from Bar-Ilan University on the study, showing that plants have signaling mechanisms almost as fast as those in humans to help them survive. The research could allow farmers to one day control these defenses to better protect crops from threats. Mittler's study was published in The Plant Cell, the journal of the American Society of Plant Biologists.