BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 3 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:
Plant biologists and engineers have extended their studies to the skies to track airborne pollen once it leaves a crop.
In a new study, published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, researchers established an accurate methodology for tracking, measuring, and forecasting pollen dispersal of genetically engineered switchgrass at both the ground and atmospheric levels.
"This is the first study to bring all these elements together in one experiment," said first author Manu Nimmala Ph.D. '26. "We combined genetically engineered switchgrass that produced fluorescent pollen, novel drone and ground-based sampling systems, hig...