Joe Zhou, a graduate student and research assistant from China studying plant, soil, and agricultural systems, waters newly transplanted soybean plants June 5 near the University Farms greenhouse. Zhou has been growing the genetically mutated plants in the greenhouse all semester and will harvest the leaves in about three weeks to extract DNA. “We are looking to determine whether genetically altering the plants’ DNA can create more resistance to threatening environmental factors,” Zhou said.

Photo by Tiffany Blanchette of The Daily Egyptian.