Inside a UC Davis engineering lab, tiny round pellets swirl in a brown liquid inside a 5-liter glass tank. The tank, a bioreactor, is brewing edible fungi high in protein and designed to look and taste like meat.

In another lab on campus, a liquid nitrogen tank nicknamed “cryocow” holds frozen vials of cow muscle stem cells. Scientists hope to one day turn these cells into lab-grown meat, creating the burgers of the future. 

On the edge of the UC Davis campus sits a world-renowned facility charged with ensuring grapevines, strawberries, fruit and nut trees, sweet potatoes, olives, pistachio, and roses are tested for viruses and pathogens. 

As the new academic year approaches, the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is pleased to introduce Professor Gerardo Mackenzie as the new chair of the Department of Nutrition.

Mackenzie has been with the department faculty since 2016. Before that, he spent nine years as an investigator and faculty member with the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He earned his bachelor’s degree, as well as a Ph.D. in cell biology, from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Carrot growers face a variety of climate and biological threats, including water access and diseases like Alternaria leaf blight, which can reduce yield by 40-60%. Some cultivated carrots are partially resistant to Alternaria but still require frequent fungicide applications to fully protect crops from this disease. 

Over the last two decades, both the federal government and state governments have enacted policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. In a new Special Issue of ARE Update, University of California agricultural economists explore how these federal and state renewable fuel policies have affected biofuel production for motor and aviation fuels and consider how these policies have affected land use and food prices. Their research shows that as U.S.

Driven by his passion for food science and brimming with ideas, UC Davis student Dion Skaria created Fit Candy – a nutritious treat that blends sweet and sour flavors while reducing food waste. This innovative gummy candy is crafted from upcycled watermelon rinds.

UC Davis has been a leading source of information for people handling, packaging and transporting crops since the beginnings of the Postharvest Research and Extension Center in 1979. Now, the center is strengthening its focus on the needs of industry, offering fresh courses, weaving strategic partnerships and expanding into digital media, all while building up its research capacity to better serve the needs of the produce industry.

Silver Oak Cellars, a family-run business known for its cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir wines, donated $100,000 to the University of California, Davis, to support research on how characteristics like soil chemistry and location affect wines that we enjoy and attribute to specific places, including but not limited to Napa Valley. 

The money will help fund Department of Viticulture and Enology research to better understand how the same grapes planted in different locations can result in wines that have distinctive flavor, texture and other sensory attributes. 

This year’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture 2024 Annual Meeting, themed, Local Leadership in Building Horticulture Resilience to Climate Change, took place in Antigua, Guatemala, and brought together global experts and stakeholders in horticulture to foster collaboration and share knowledge.

Construction officially began on the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation Wednesday with a groundbreaking event celebrating the future $64.4 million facility at the University of California, Davis.