Right now, our natural rubber comes from just one tree species: Hevea brasiliensis. It’s great at producing latex that becomes rubber, but it’s vulnerable to disease and climate shifts. So researchers are looking into a desert shrub that’s native to North America: guayule. 

This episode was made in collaboration with our friends at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

Links from this episode:

• Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI : http://jointgeno.me/proposals  
• Join us at the 2023 JGI User Meeting: http://jointgeno.me/JGI2023 

• Find all episode transcripts on our website
• HudsonAlpha Institute's Tiny Expeditions Podcast
• Guayule: Can genetics create a natural US rubber source?

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