"Subsistence farmers in Malaysia and beyond could see a boost to their livelihoods if Orion Biosains' project succeeds."

A multinational team from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Orion Genomics, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory today announced the publication of a paper in Nature detailing the epigenetic cause of mantling.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Orion Genomics publish in Nature the discovery of the epigenetic cause of oil palm fruit mantling, leading the way for increased palm oil yield. (Ong-Abdullah et al. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature15365)

Harrison Ford, known for iconic roles such as Han Solo and the intrepid archaeologist, confronts the Indonesian forestry minister on television.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Orion Genomics discover key fruit-color gene in oil palm, indicates fruit ripening (Singh, et al. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5106)

Orion Genomics launches clinical diagnostics lab, granted CAP accreditation

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Orion Genomics discover oil yield gene in oil palm (Singh, et al. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature12356)

On Wednesday a team of Malaysian and American scientists published a pair of papers in Nature on the genome of this profoundly important (oil palm) tree. They hope to use the knowledge to grow better trees that can yield more oil. The researchers discovered that a single gene, called SHELL, has a powerful effect on how much oil is produced mutations to SHELL can raise the yield of the palm by as much as 30 percent.

The genome of one of the world's key commercial crops, the oil palm, has been sequenced. The plant's oil is used in many food and household products, but has caused controversy because large areas of rainforest have been cleared to make way for plantations. Through deciphering the crop's DNA, researchers have identified the genes that could help to produce a more sustainable crop. The work is published in Nature.

A single gene in the oil palm could hold the key to making more oil from fewer plants -- and could possibly help preserve Asian rain forests from destruction.

Researchers pinpoint a gene that could be used to boost yields and reduce competition between forests and oil palms a duo of papers just published in Nature moves a step in that direction, suggesting that breeders could further boost oil palm yields, and in that way significantly reduce the competition between rainforests and palm oil plantations around the world.

Orion Genomics launches clinical diagnostics lab, granted CLIA certification