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Plant scientist Dale Sanders
Professor Dale Sanders has spent much of his life studying plants, seeking to understand why some thrive in a particular environment while others struggle. His ground breaking research on their molecular machinery showed how plants extract nutrients from the soil and store essential elements. Since plants can’t move, their survival depends on these responses. In 2020, after 27 years at the University of York, he became the Director of the John Innes Centre in Norwich, one of the premier plant research institutions in the world. Meeting the food needs of a growing global population as the climate changes is a major challenge. And, Dale says, it’s not only about maximising yields. We need crops that are more resilient and more nutritious. Drought resistant crop varieties, for example. And zinc-rich white rice. Dale talks to Jim about how plant science is helping to feed the world in a sustainable way and why plant scientists don’t always get the recognition they deserve.
Producer: Anna Buckley
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Plant scientist Dale Sanders
Discovery
How plant science can help to feed a growing global population, as the climate changes. Prof Dale Sanders talks to Jim Al-Khalili about his life and work.
Professor Dale Sanders has spent much of his life studying plants, seeking to understand why some thrive in a particular environment while others struggle. His ground breaking research on their molecular machinery showed how plants extract nutrients from the soil and store essential elements. Since plants can’t move, their survival depends on these responses. In 2020, after 27 years at the University of York, he became the Director of the John Innes Centre in Norwich, one of the premier plant research institutions in the world. Meeting the food needs of a growing global population as the climate changes is a major challenge. And, Dale says, it’s not only about maximising yields. We need crops that are more resilient and more nutritious. Drought resistant crop varieties, for example. And zinc-rich white rice. Dale talks to Jim about how plant science is helping to feed the world in a sustainable way and why plant scientists don’t always get the recognition they deserve.
Producer: Anna Buckley
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28 minutes
Last on
Mon 25 Jan 2021
00:32GMT
BBC World Service
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Can we grow enough food to feed the world in 2050?
Duration: 02:37
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Mon 18 Jan 2021
20:32GMT
BBC World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
Mon 18 Jan 2021
21:32GMT
BBC World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
Tue 19 Jan 2021
04:32GMT
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