United States Department of Agriculture
AgResearch Magazine
A flake of Super Slurper captures moisture 1,400 times its own weight or greater. (George Robinson, K0839-1)
Curator David Labeda holds a specimen from the ARS Culture Collection. (Katherine Smith, D3593-1)
Low-fat muffins, soft-serve ice cream, and cheddar cheese produced with Fantesk, a natural product made from starch, water, and one or more oils. (Keith Weller, K9258-1)
Laboratory technician Christie Robnett uses DNA sequence analysis to accurately identify yeasts that are part of the ARS Culture Collection. (Keith Weller, K8555-11)
The mosquito Aedes aegypti can spread several diseases. ARS scientists are working to protect humans from this and other disease-spreading insects by developing repellents, treated fabrics, and more. (Stephen Ausmus, D2623-8)
Food technologist Mukti Singh examines Fantesk as it comes off a drum dryer. Fantesk can cut the fat and calories in cake and frosting. (Stephen Ausmus, D1699-4)
ARS research leader Tara McHugh casts carrot wrap into rolls. Carrot wraps and other veggie wraps can be used in various food products. (Peggy Greb, D1148-1)
ARS scientists have developed improved guayule plants for rubber production. (Kang-bo Wang, D3925-1)
ARS technician David Bozzi, retired, (left) weighs pulp recovered from food waste and garbage while ARS microbiologist Diana Franqui pretreats the pulp with enzymes for bioenergy research. (Peggy Greb, D1248-1)
Some yeast species convert plant sugars into oils that can be used to make high-quality biodiesel. These Lipomyces tetrasporus yeast cells have large oil drops inside of them. (Patricia Slininger, D3923-1)
ARS geneticist Michael Casler harvests switchgrass seed in a program to develop high-yielding cultivars for bioenergy production. (Wolfgang Hoffmann, D764-1)
Chemical engineer Laetitia Bonnaillie holds a bag of powdered casein, the starting material for her laboratory's protein-based food films. (Neal Santos, D3927-1)
Chemical engineer Peggy Tomasula and chemist Phoebe Qi inspect casein films made with a process Tomasula helped develop. (Paul Pierlot, D3929-1)
ARS scientists improved sugarcane yields by amending soil with biochar, a carbon-rich charcoal made from leafy trash and bagasse. (Sophia Wojkowski, D3931-1)
