Biological and geographical diversification of natural rubber: US supply security, rural development, and public health

The United States is completely dependent upon southeast Asian sources of natural rubber, a critical raw material in 50,000 products, which cannot be replaced by synthetic elastomers. All commercially available natural rubber is tapped by hand as latex by poorly paid workers. Rubber trees are grown as genetically identical clones and are extremely prone to fungal pathogens and other diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragile nature of our rubber supply chain. Dr. Cornish will discuss these issues and how we can develop supply security with the United States and our own manufacture of protective gloves and other products.