iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

ICRISAT has secured a long-term humanitarian license with Corteva and The Broad Institute for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, opening a path to climate-resilient pulses, millets and oilseeds for smallholder farmers across Asia and Africa. 🌾

Two African farmers inspect crops in a diverse agricultural field with sorghum and legume plants, surrounded by green farmland and rolling hills under a bright sky. The image illustrates climate-resilient agriculture and crop innovation in Africa. AI-generated image.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

🧵 1/4 - How do you change a plant without inserting a single foreign gene? New Genomic Techniques like CRISPR/Cas make exactly that possible. A short look at a technique that is reshaping plant breeding.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

🌾 Historic day for food science in Europe! The EU Parliament just adopted new rules for New Genomic Techniques (NGTs): genome-edited plants similar to conventionally bred ones will now face lighter regulation! A clear pathway from lab to field. #NGT #EUPolicy

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The world’s population is growing, and climate change and plant diseases are affecting global harvests. How can we help to ensure strong yields and food security in the future? The @healthycrops.bsky.social project at @hhu.de invite you to an evening of engaging short presentations.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Genome editing can revolutionize agriculture, but only if we ensure it is safe and transparent. Our comment in Nature Biotech highlights why long-read whole genome sequencing should be the standard to confirm that genome-edited plants are free of foreign DNA. 🔗 buff.ly/zrgWbn4

doi.org

Ensuring effective removal of transgenes before release of genome-edited crops - Nature Biotechnology

Genome editing technology is evolving fast, and many labs worldwide are generating crop plants with improved traits. If transgenes were used to generate the edits, foreign DNA must be effectively…

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

🌾 #LabtoLeaf: Not all rice blight is the same. We created a diagnostic kit that identifies the precise Xoo strain in blight-ridden rice plants. This allows to inform planting strategies and means resistance to be locally matched. Read more on how it works: buff.ly/KjOoRKJ #RiceBlight #PlantScience

buff.ly

Diagnostic kit for rice blight resistance - Nature Biotechnology

Strategic deployment of blight-resistant rice lines is enabled by a molecular diagnostic kit.

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bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Differentiation of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in vitro and during rice leaf infection www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…

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Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions® (MPMI) @mpmijournal.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Just Published: "The TALE PthA4 of Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri Indirectly Activates an Expansin Gene CsEXP2 and an Endoglucanase CsEG1 via CsLOB1 to Cause Citrus Canker Symptoms," by Rikky Rai and Nian Wang. Learn more: doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-03-25-0030-R

Fig. 5.
Virulence assay with constructed designer transcription activator-like effectors (dTALEs) in sweet orange leaves: Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) strains wild type (WT), XccpthA4::Tn5, XccpthA4::Tn5 dTALECsLOB1, and XccpthA4::Tn5 dTALEs for putative CsLOB1 target genes were infiltrated into fully expanded young leaves of Valencia sweet orange, which were evaluated for the symptoms at 14 and 21 days postinoculation (dpi). Representative results were chosen from three independent experiments. Inoculation of leaves with different strains was conducted as illustrated in Figure 3A.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

🌾 Lab to Leaf: Insights in Plant Biology 🌱 🌍 Rice feeds more than half the world. But did you know that over 90% of it is grown in Asia? Using USDA's Rice Outlook (buff.ly/w9IYfTy) you can have a closer look at the yield production of different countries on the globe. #LabtoLeaf #Plantscience #Rice

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

(1/3) 🌾 Meet Dr. Eliza Loo, group leader at HHU and senior scientists involved in the #HealthyCrops Project. Eliza brings the combination of her enthusiasm for plant-microbe interactions with a strong interdisciplinary skill set of bioinformatics, genetics, and plant physiology to the project.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

🌾 #LabtoLeaf: How does rice survive floods? It waits for drier times. The SUB1A gene, discovered in the Indian landrace FR13A, helps rice conserve energy underwater through a survival strategy called quiescence: it pauses growth until floodwaters recede. #PlantScience #Rice

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

(1/3) 🌿 Meet Dr. Alvaro Pérez-Quintero, one of our researchers at IRD in France. Alvaro’s work focuses on how plant pathogens evolve, specifically how bacteria like Xanthomonas adapt to overcome plant resistance, and how these insights can help us build durable resistance strategies.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

New publication from Healthy Crops! Our latest study in Plant Biotechnology Journal reports that our #genome-edited #rice varieties which are resistant to bacterial blight, are free of external DNA and show no yield penalties in multi-location field trials! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Removal of Transgenes and Evaluation of Yield Penalties in Genome Edited Bacterial Blight Resistant Rice Varieties

Bacterial blight (BB) of rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), is one of the major drivers of yield losses in Africa and Asia. Xoo secretes TAL-effectors (TALe) that induce host SWEET ....

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

(1/3) 🌾 Meet Dr. Michael Gomez Selvaraj, senior scientist at CIAT (@bioversityciat.bsky.social ) in Colombia, and one of our PIs at Healthy Crops. Michael leads CIAT’s plant phenomics platform in Colombia, where he develops cutting-edge tools for monitoring plant traits.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

🥳 Healthy Crops was awarded 3rd place in the 2025 @hhu.de Ideas Competition! 🏆 Out of 100+ submissions, our concept to create disease-resistant crops using genome editing was recognized for its innovation and impact! Thanks to everyone supporting our efforts! #GenomeEditing #PlantScience

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Morgan Carter @morgancarterphd.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Wolf Frommer presents work from @healthycrops.bsky.social, a global collaboration to work on bacterial blight of rice. They are transferring transgene-free, genome edited rice to different countries, with legal frameworks in place, to test resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. #2025ISMPMI

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CEPLAS - Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences @ceplas.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Great to see two teams from the Plant Science and #QBIO communities making it to the podium at yesterday’s HHU Ideas Competition by #CEDUS! 🌱🧠 Exciting projects and well deserved — very curious to watch these ideas grow! 🚀👏 @healthycrops.bsky.social @plantgen-hhu.bsky.social

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

(1/3) Meet Dr Emily Gichuhi, researcher at KALRO and one of our PIs at Healthy Crops. Her current research focuses on enhancing rice yields under stress conditions, aiming to make rice cultivation more resilient to climate change and improving disease resistance & abiotic stress tolerance in rice.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

#LabtoLeaf: What causes blight in rice? The bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) highjacks the plant's sugar transporters to promote its own growth instead. This leads to leaf lesions up to total yield loss, affecting farmers world wide. Read more about it here: buff.ly/uvyDt0u #RiceBlight

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

🌾 #LabtoLeaf: Not all rice is the same! Oryza sativa, the global staple, from Basmati to Swarna and IR64. Oryza glaberrima, Africa’s resilient rice, rooted in tradition and adapted to tough soils and drought. At #HealthyCrops, we're working with lines like Komboka & IR64. What’s your go-to #rice? 🍚

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

We’re stepping up our outreach! 🌾 Expect more from us in the next weeks: more about who we are, what we do, and what’s happening in crop science. Whether you're into genes, greenhouses, or ground-breaking research, or just like fun facts, there's something here for you. 👇

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

We are proud to announce that Wolf B. Frommer (@research-science.bsky.social ), Scientific Leader of Healthy Crops, has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (@nasonline.org)! A tremendous honor recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to plant science! #Science #HealthyCrops

Wolf B. Frommer is honored during the U.S. National Academy of Sciences ceremony. A slide in the background shows his name, affiliation with Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, and a photo of him examining plants in a greenhouse. Three people are present on stage, surrounded by plants and banners with scientific motifs.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Congratulations to Dr. Bing Yang, recipient of the James B. Eads Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis! 🌱 An internationally recognized expert in plant genome engineering, Bing has made groundbreaking contributions in CRISPR/Cas-based crop resistance. #PlantScience #CRISPR

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Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Congratulations! Great to see this recognition of the contributions of Jeff Dangl, Jonathan Jones & Brian Staskawicz to our understanding of plant immunity.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

🌾 A major milestone for Healthy Crops! We will transfer our bacterial blight-resistant rice varieties to our team members at KALRO in Kenya. Next steps are field trials under local conditions with the ultimate aim of combating rice diseases! 🚀🌱 #GenomeEditing #PlantScience buff.ly/3Xam8Ln

buff.ly

Disease-resistant rice varieties created by means of genome editing

The “Healthy Crops” consortium, an international team of researchers, which includes Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), has – in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock…

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Informationsdienst Wissenschaft - idw @idw-online.de · 19/02/2025

Approach to combating bacterial rice diseases in East Africa Disease-resistant rice varieties created by means of genome editing The “Healthy Crops” consortium, an international team of researchers, which includes Heinrich Heine University ... weiterlesen

Scientists from KALRO take samples from the vast rice fields in Kenya to examine them for pathological organisms. - Copyright Emily Gichuhi

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Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) @zalf.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

🌍🚜 Women farmers in The Gambia struggle with climate adaptation due to their limited access to resources and advice. A study shows: Targeted support is key! 🔍 www.zalf.de/en/aktue... #ClimateChange #Agriculture #Equality

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

🌾 Postdoc Opportunity! 🌾 Join Prof. Dr. Wolf B. Frommer’s research team at @hhu.bsky.social for an exciting postdoc position in disease resistance in rice! 📩 Apply now! Send your CV & motivation letter to apply_healthycrops@hhu.de RT & share! 🌱 #Postdoc #PlantScience #RiceResearch

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

🌟 Excited to share "Edit a Genome", developed by the Institute of Molecular Physiology at University of Düsseldorf 🧬✨ This platform offers insights into genome editing techniques, and provides an overview of global regulations in genome editing for crops 🌾 Check it out now! 👇 🔗 www.editagenome.org

editagenome.org

Edit a Genome

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Kevin Cox Jr @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

The last part of my PhD work was published yesterday in Nature Communications!! We found a TAL effector that targets three genes to confer bacterial blight of cotton disease. Congrats to all the other co-authors on this paper! 🎉🙌🏾 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Activation of three targets by a TAL effector confers susceptibility to bacterial blight of cotton - Nature Communications

Newly evolved Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum isolates triggers recent bacterial blight outbreaks in cotton. Here, the authors show that a recently evolved TALE, Tal7b, activates host susceptibility...

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The Global Plant Council @globalplantgpc.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Scientists have developed a diagnostic tool to identify #quinoa plants resistant to #DownyMildew, aiding breeders in creating resilient varieties. The tool also ensures quinoa seed shipments are disease-free, preventing outbreaks. buff.ly/4hadogc #PlantHealth #PlantScience #Science #Plants

Image: quinoa plant field. Credit: Jai79 / Pixabay

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

We officially stopped our activities on X! 🌾 Starting today, all updates from the Healthy Crops Project will be shared exclusively here and on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/heal...). Follow us also there for the latest on our disease-resistant rice innovations. 🌱

linkedin.com

Healthy Crops | LinkedIn

Healthy Crops | 72 followers on LinkedIn. Providing disease resistant rice varieties to achieve significant yield increases for small scale producers | The Healthy Crops Project is an international re...

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

🌱 Happy New Year 2025! 🎉 Here's to a year of growth, innovation, and sustainable breakthroughs in agricultural research 🌾🌍 #HappyNewYear2025 #AgricultureInnovation

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

🌾🔬 Exciting news! We were interviewed by @buddepiept.bsky.social about the development of our new bacterial blight resistant rice varieties. Listen to this insightful interview about how our work can help supporting robust rice yields! 🌍👇 www.deutschlandfunk.de/reis-krankhe...

deutschlandfunk.de

Reis-Krankheit: Internationales Team züchtet in Rekordzeit resistente Reissorte

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

The team has successfully developed #rice varieties through marker-assisted backcross breeding that are #resistant to bacterial blight. They will be transferred to partners in #Madagascar and #Tanzania, where they'll be tested in the field before they are distributed to local farmers.

hhu.de

New approaches in the fight against bacterial rice disease

An international research team, the “Healthy Crops” consortium, has developed rice varieties resistant to a detrimental crop disease in East Africa and Madagascar. The new varieties are resistant to b...

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 03/05/2024

The head of the Healthy Crops Project, Prof. Dr. Wolf B. Frommer was elected as a member of the National Academy of Science! Congratulation! 🎉

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 29/04/2024

Have you ever wondered how #genomeediting works and how the resulting products in #agriculture are regulated around the globe? With the help of www.editagenome.org we aim to address your open questions. The website is under construction and will be updated frequently.

editagenome.org

Universität Düsseldorf: Edit a Genome

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 03/11/2023

The appearance of an Asian strain of bacterial #blight in #Tanzania threatens #rice production in Africa. In one of our recent publications we discus the origin of the outbreak and possible solutions. doi.org/10.15252/emb...

doi.org

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 31/10/2023

On the next days we want to introduce you a little bit more to the project and explain what we are doing. Did you know that Healthy Crops is already a consortium of ten research institutes on 5 continents?! You can find all involved institutions on our website: www.healthycrops.org/the-consortium

healthycrops.org

Universität Düsseldorf: The Consortium

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Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚🇳🇿 @notjustdna.bsky.social · 27/07/2023

Research paper: using #CRISPR to genetically edit an African rice to resist a rapidly spreading outbreak of bacterial blight in Tanzania. elifesciences.org/articles/84864

Editor's evaluation

This valuable study shows that new, virulent genotypes of Xanthomonas oryze pv. oryzae, that are similar to strains present in east Asia, cause outbreaks of bacterial blight of rice in Tanzania. The authors' use of CRISPR-based gene editing on multiple pathogen targets in an elite African rice variety to create lines resistant to both endemic and emerging pathogen strains in Africa makes for a compelling contribution to meet this alarming development.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Our team at @hhu.bsky.social is looking for a new administrative assistant in the coordination of the project. In this temporary 50% position, you will support a great team of scientists in their daily administrative tasks. All applicants must be fluent in German and English.

Job advertisement in German for a position as administrative assistant in the Healthy Crops project.

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Healthy Crops @healthycrops.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Hello Blue Sky! We also finally made it here! 😍🌾 Follow us if you want to be frequently updated about our work on the development of disease-resistant #rice varieties for developing countries.

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