How and when did early humans domesticate the plants that we use today? Did these ancient farmers purposefully select traits, or did they domesticate unconsciously? In the future, can breeders and farmers grow more nutritious and robust food using genomics?
In this episode, we talk to Michael Purugganan, an evolutionary biologist at NYU, about some of our favorite foods, where they came from, and what to do to ensure we will still have them in the future.
We also talk about rice, an essential staple crop for the world. Michael describes his genomic work with rice to make it more robust and resilient, especially in the face of climate change and a growing human population. His research is part of a global effort to make a Green Super Rice, a rice variety suitable for the diverse challenges of the future.
Cover art: Keating Shahmehri
Long-term experimental evolution in the wild (Ep 106)
Big Bio Bonus Episode: We’re Hiring!
Little Biology: Why can’t I regrow my arm?
Sleeping beauties: the mystery of dormant innovations in nature and culture (Ep 104)
Pest-o, change-o: how culture shapes our view of animal commensals (Ep 103)
Inherency in evolution (Ep 102)
NEON: The promises and challenges of large-scale ecological research (Ep 101)
A retrospective on agency (Ep 100)
Creativity and passion in science communication (Ep 99)
There’s a thousand genes for that! (Ep 98)
Mutation bias in evolution: climbing Mount Probable (Ep 97)
The network motifs that run the world (Ep 96)
Why are we like this? (Ep 95)
Introducing: The Science of Everything
Synthesizing life on the planet (Ep 94)
Assembling life in the universe (Ep 93)
A journey into the brilliant abyss (Ep 92)
How stealth organs make super soldier ants (Ep 91)
Fabricated images threaten the integrity of Alzheimer’s research (Ep 90)
How one gene determines the fate of a food web (Ep 89)
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