3.16.23-AgTech-DesMarais

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  Solar energy captured by plants is the central currency of life on Earth. Through a set of elegant chemical reactions, plants use solar energy to power the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into stable sugars. These organic compounds, in turn, are used by the plant for growth and seed production, which represent all of the human nutrition. Understanding how three fundamental plant processes – growth, metabolism, and reproduction -- are controlled by genes and the environment is a fundamental challenge for plant science as we work to ensure the resilience of ecological and agricultural systems. The Des Marais Group at MIT studies the mechanisms of plant-environment interactions in order to predict plant responses to climate change and to identify possible targets for crop improvement. Professor David L. Des Marais will present the case that plant sciences have the necessary tools to ensure food security but lack the necessary fundamental understanding of plant physiology to develop next-generation crops and cropping systems. He will highlight opportunities for partnerships between researchers in the academic and private sectors to leverage big data, computational biology, and genome editing to maximize plant productivity in our changing world.

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