Farmers across the globe spend an estimated $33 billion annually to protect their crops against disease and pests, but they still lose an estimated $100 billion each year. Research conducted by Jyoti Shah, associate professor of biology, could minimize these losses by arming plants with more effective natural defenses.
Shah recently received more than $1 million in grants from the National Science Foundation to improve the understanding of plant responses to stress. His research could lessen the need for pesticides and lead to the development of plants with better resistance to disease and pests.
Shah belongs to UNT’s Signaling Mechanisms in Plants, a seven-person group of plant science researchers who explore plant signals with the intent of developing new technologies in agriculture and medicine.