Without plants, we’d have no air to breathe or food to eat, yet plant science lingers in the shadowy wings while other fields take center stage.
Without plants, we’d have no air to breathe or food to eat, yet plant science lingers in the shadowy wings while other fields take center stage. With the goal of shining the spotlight on plants, a new study presents the field’s top 100 most pressing questions for research to address the greatest challenges facing humanity.
“The study highlights the importance of plant science for society by laying out myriad questions and technical challenges that, if solved, could sustainably support the increasing human population on a planet under climate change,” said Sanna Sevanto, a plant physiologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and co-author of the study recently published in the journal New Phytologist.
Wide-Ranging Questions
The questions cover a wide range of topics, including genetically modified organisms, plant-based fuels, food scarcity, growing seaweed as a carbon sink, using algae to clean up oil spills, how soil microorganisms affect stress in plants, and even growing plants in space to support human life.
Read more at DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory
Photo Credit: stokpic via Pixabay
