Right now, our natural rubber comes from just one tree species: Hevea brasiliensis. It’s great at producing latex that becomes rubber, but it’s vulnerable to disease and climate shifts. So researchers are looking into a desert shrub that’s native to North America: guayule.  This episode was made in collaboration with our friends at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. Links from this episode: Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI : http://jointgeno.me/proposals  Join us at the 2023 JGI User Meeting: http://jointgeno.me/JGI2023  Episode TranscriptHudsonAlpha Institute's Tiny Expeditions PodcastGuayule: Can genetics create a natural US rubber source?Guayule Project in the JGI’s Approved Proposals of 2022 Our contact info:Twitter: @JGIEmail: jgi-comms at lbl dot gov