Hampton University Scientist Cracks Billion-Dollar Crop Mystery, Discovers Game-Changing Soybean Genes
Hampton University is turning heads in the global agriculture scene, thanks to a high-impact discovery by Dr. Naoufal Lakhssassi, plant geneticist and professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. In a landmark study published in Nature Communications Biology (2025), Dr. Lakhssassi and collaborators at the University of Missouri and Southern Illinois University identified two novel genes that can dramatically boost soybean resistance to one of farming’s most destructive pests: the soybean cyst nematode (SCN).