THE UNIVERSITY of Arizona (UA) receives a US$3 million grant from Yulex Corp for research on breeding the guayule plant to produce biorubber for medical and other applications.
The 5-year grant will be used to apply classical breeding along with modern tools for improving the yield of guayule crops and to decrease its cycle time.
Leading the research is UA professor, Dr. Dennis Ray, an expert on the guayule plant.
Low-maintenance Guayule, which requires minimal water and no pesticides to produce, has been found to be an ideal source of natural rubber latex that can replace fuel-based rubber.