A UNC-Charlotte professor recently won a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new and diverse soybean varieties that can resist the world’s most damaging soybean pest, a tiny roundworm called the soybean cyst nematode. And soybeans are a vital part of N .C.'s agricultural economy.
Soybeans are sometimes called magic beans due to their wide utility. They are used as livestock feed, in human foods ranging from tofu to salad oil, in crayons that are non-toxic and safer for children, in biodiesel fuel, in household cleaners and in countless other products.