Bingyu Zhao, Virginia Tech (IMAGE) Virginia Tech Caption Bingyu Zhao, assistant professor of horticulture, has received a $1 million, five-year Faculty Early Career Development Award from the NSF to discover why the disease-resistant gene Rxo1 violates a rule in modern plant pathology and remains functional when it was transferred into a plant species that belongs to a different plant taxonomic family. Credit Virginia Tech Photo Usage Restrictions with coverage of Bingyu Zhao's CAREER award research License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.