Boosting Food Security: Cost Effective Strategies to Defeat Crop Viruses

Presenter: Grace Rua, Biological Sciences, Global Public Health Scholars

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My practicum for the Global Health Scholars program involved me working at USDA-ARS in the National Germplasm Lab. During my practicum project, I worked with other lab members to identify various unknown viruses infecting Sweet Potato and Sugar Cane crops through performing tasks such as TNA Extraction, PCR of extraction projects using target viral primers, running gels with yielded PCR products to identify viral presence and genomic sequencing. My time at USDA taught me vital lab skills I will carry forward in my scientific career along with how the issue of global food insecurity can be targeted and addressed through a variety of methods. Looking at my project under a global health lens, my work identifying and eliminating viral infections in plants tied to food insecurity resulting from annual crop loss, which is a detrimental problem that deeply infects areas that are highly reliant on their agricultural yields. Through identifying cost-effective and straightforward identification and elimination procedures for various crops, these methods can be implemented in areas most at risk of viral infections to help better prepare and respond to any potential outbreaks. Along with addressing the issue of food insecurity, my site aims to further understand different DNA and RNA viruses, how they transmit to different hosts, and different symptoms resulting from infection.