A simple, cheap lab test can unerringly detect Sudden Death Syndrome, a costly fungal disease, in soybean seedlings. Once commercialized, its use will help breeders produce SDS-resistant soybean varieties much faster than they can now. “You can do a reliable assay in the greenhouse in a plastic cup and four weeks later, you’ll see the result,” said the biotechnologist who developed the procedure. “The seedlings develop the leaf symptoms and the root rot or they don’t. It works every time, and the labor cost is very low — about $1 per assay.”