Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a spray-on polymer coating to help plants resist bacterial infections and survive drought, which could strengthen global food security. Bacterial infections are a growing threat to agriculture, causing major crop losses worldwide. Rising temperatures are allowing pathogens to expand into new regions, increasing crop exposure to infections. Researchers developed an antibacterial coating that can be sprayed directly onto plant leaves to combat this challenge, offering a promising solution to enhance crop resilience and food production in the face of climate change.