potato

A Food For The Future | Earth Wise

September 19, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Researchers predict that climate change will negatively impact most staple food crops, including rice, corn, and soybeans. Therefore, climate resilient food crops – those that are salt, drought, and heat resilient – will have an important role to play in global food security. Examples of climate resilient crops include quinoa, kernza, amaranth, millet, and tepary beans.

According to a new study by researchers from Northwestern University, breadfruit – a starchy tree fruit native to the Pacific Islands – will be relatively unaffected by climate change. Because breadfruit is climate resilient and well-suited to grow in regions with high levels of food insecurity, the research team suggests breadfruit could be a part of the solution to global hunger.

While it has ”fruit” in its name, breadfruit is more like a potato. It’s starchy and seedless, and is closely related to jackfruit. Breadfruit is nutrient-rich, and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It can be steamed, roasted, fried, fermented, and even turned into flour. People in tropical regions around the world have been eating breadfruit for thousands of years.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS Climate, researchers determined the climate conditions necessary to cultivate breadfruit and then looked at how these conditions are predicted to change in the future. They examined two future climate scenarios: one that reflects high greenhouse-gas emissions and another in which emissions stabilize.

In both scenarios, the regions suitable for breadfruit cultivation were mostly unaffected. Additionally, the researchers identified new suitable land where breadfruit cultivation could expand.

As the climate continues to change, breadfruit might soon be on a table near you.

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Climate-resilient breadfruit might be the food of the future

Photo, posted August 11, 2007, courtesy of Malcolm Manners via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

RNA Modification For Plants | Earth Wise

September 8, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

We have heard a lot about RNA this past year as messenger RNA vaccine technology has been used for the first time to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Now RNA-based technology has shown promise to make major contributions to agriculture.

A group of researchers at the University of Chicago and two Chinese universities have announced that manipulating RNA can allow plants to yield dramatically more crops as well as have better drought resistance.

Adding gene encoding for a protein called FTO to both rice and potato plants increased their yield by 50% in initial field tests. The plants were larger, produced longer root systems, and could better tolerate drought conditions. Further analysis showed that the plants had increased their rate of photosynthesis.

FTO protein erases chemical marks on RNA. Specifically, it controls a process known as m6A, which is a key modification of RNA. The FTO erases m6A to reduce some of the signals that tell plants to slow down and reduce growth. Plants modified with the addition of FTO produced significantly more RNA than control plants.

Experiments with both rice plants and potato plants – which are completely unrelated – demonstrated the same results, indicating that the technique could be broadly applicable. (The genetic modification is rather simple to make and has worked with every type of plant the researchers have tried it with so far).

These results are just the beginning but demonstrate the potential of a technology that could help address problems of poverty and food insecurity at a global scale as well as responding to climate change. The world depends on plants for everything from wood, food, and medicine, to flowers and oils. This technique has the potential to dramatically increase the stock material we can get from most plants.

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RNA breakthrough creates crops that can grow 50% more potatoes, rice

Photo, posted September 22, 2014, courtesy of Toshiyuki Imai via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Big Bucks For Meatless Meat

June 12, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In recent years, alternative protein startup companies have been all the rage among investors. Last year, these companies attracted a least a quarter of a billion dollars in funding and the interest is not slowing down.

The Doomsday Seed Vault

April 12, 2017 By EarthWise

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, tucked away on a Norwegian island far above the Arctic Circle, is often described as humanity’s last hope against extinction after some global crisis and is popularly known as the “Doomsday Vault.” Although its mission is to keep the world’s seeds safe, it wasn’t actually created to reseed the planet after a world-wide catastrophe.