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Salk Scientists Unveil Deeper-Rooted Soybeans to Combat Climate Change
Confirmed
In Short: Salk Institute researchers have developed soybeans with deeper roots to help withstand climate extremes and store more carbon, with a $18 million grant to test their effectiveness.
Salk Institute researchers have developed soybeans with roots that penetrate deeper into the soil, aiming to help crops withstand climate extremes and store more carbon. Todd Michael, a research professor at the institute, said the team uncovered the genetic information of hundreds of versions of common row crop plants like soybeans and sorghum, creating an 'encyclopedia' of plant genomes.
After identifying 347 genes related to carbon storage and root growth, scientists edited the plants' DNA to create soybeans with deeper roots. Researchers hope these roots can help crops withstand some effects of climate change while also drawing more carbon from the atmosphere and storing it underground.
The $18 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund will help Salk researchers test how resilient these plants are to drought and other climate stressors, how much carbon they can store, and for how long. The grant will also explore how to scale up the adoption of these crops on farms.
According to the study, adoption could be rapid because deeper-rooted crops could be planted on current farm fields using existing agricultural infrastructure and land. However, large-scale adoption on farm fields will be required to have the kind of carbon-reduction impact Salk scientists want.
Scientists still need to show how much additional carbon these roots can store under real farming conditions, how long the carbon would remain underground, and whether the crops can maintain yields. The research aims to address the urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, which trap heat and drive human-caused climate change.
Climate change has already led to extreme weather conditions, with August 2026 being described as a 'remarkable month' in the global climate record. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that August 2026 tied with July 2023 for the hottest calendar month on record, with temperatures above the 1.5C threshold.
Extreme climate events, including intense storms and marine heat waves, have also impacted wildlife, such as puffins, which have seen a decline in population. Experts fear that these events will continue to increase in frequency and severity in the future.
The research on deeper-rooted soybeans is part of a broader effort to address climate change, including direct air capture, changes to ocean chemistry, and reforestation. However, the effectiveness of these methods remains to be seen, and continued efforts are needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
What this adds
The study highlights the potential for genetic modifications to help crops adapt to climate change, but the long-term effectiveness and scalability of these modifications remain to be determined.
What's confirmed
- Over the last six years, Salk scientists uncovered the genetic information of hundreds of versions of common row crop plants such as soybeans and sorghum from around the world, creating an “encyclopedia” of plant genomes, said Todd Michael, a research professor at the institute.
- And large-scale adoption on farm fields will be required to have the kind of carbon-reduction impact Salk scientists want.
- Researchers hope roots like these could help crops withstand some effects of climate change while also drawing more carbon from the atmosphere and storing it underground.
- Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels traps heat in the atmosphere, driving human-caused climate change.
- For years, scientists have explored ways to remove some of that carbon from the atmosphere, including through direct air capture, changes to ocean chemistry so seawater can absorb more carbon, and reforestation.
- But scientists still need to show how much additional carbon those roots can store under real farming conditions, how long the carbon would remain underground and whether the crops can maintain yields.
- An $18 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund will help Salk researchers test those questions in the field by measuring how resilient these plants are to drought and other climate stressors, how much carbon they can store and for how long, and how to get the plants onto farms at scale.
What's still developing
- Commercial aviation is entering a more turbulent era as climate change reshapes the atmosphere, with scientists warning that stronger jet streams, hotter runways and more volatile storms are likely to translate into longer delays, bumpier rides and more frequent last-minute changes for passengers.
- New research links climate change to stronger turbulence, heat‑driven weight limits and stormier flight conditions, suggesting air passengers may face more frequent disruption.
- Publicly available airline climate-risk disclosures also note that sustained higher temperatures could mean more frequent payload limits at airports with shorter runways, directly affecting passenger numbers and cargo capacity on peak days.
- Heatwaves in August continued a run of extreme heat that began in May; severe drought conditions have hit the UK, France, Hungary, Romania and Serbia, and major rivers from the Rhine and Danube to the Dnieper experienced exceptionally low flows, the Copernicus scientists said.
- The scientists said August marked a return to temperatures above a key threshold of 1.5C higher than pre-industrial averages, the first time they have breached the figure since November 2025.
- Last month also saw sea surface temperatures reach record highs, as a result of global heating from burning fossil fuels and rapidly warming seas in the Pacific associated with the strong El Niño weather phenomenon, the scientists said.
- Responding to the latest figures, Gareth Redmond-King, head of international programme at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said another “warning siren” was sounding just two months before the next UN climate summit, known as Cop31.
- “Climate change makes every El Niño hotter, and until we stop burning coal, oil, and gas, these record-shattering months will simply keep on coming,” she said.
- Under 2015’s global Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming in the long term to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to curb them to 1.5C to prevent the worst droughts, heatwaves, floods, sea level rises and wildlife collapses driven by climate change.
- Based on the all-island count earlier this summer, scientists estimate there were 36,500 occupied puffin burrows, compared to 52,000 in the last survey in 2024, and 39,000 in 2017.
- “The concern for puffins and other seabirds is that climate scientists are predicting an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme events in future.” A report published by NatureScot last week found Scotland’s seabirds are in serious decline, with the average population having halved since the 1980s.
- Extreme heat carbonized the scrolls, leaving fragile blackened objects.