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 o...

You may have never set eyes on an oil palm tree, but it's probably an intimate part of your everyday life. Whether you start your day with a shave or an application of lipstick, you are probably putting the oil from the tree's fruits on your face. You buy a donut on the way to work, and with each bi...

Published in the scientific journal Nature, the genome highlights the role of an all-important gene called Shell, according to a probe led by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). With 32 chromosomes and around 35,000 genes, the oil palm has an impressively long lineage, dating back to the origins...

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) -In a study appearing online today in Nature, researchers from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Orion Genomics, and elsewhere reported on findings from a genome and transcriptome sequencing study of two key palm oil-producing species, the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis and...