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
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bigbiology/supportGeorgia O'Keeffe and the Red Queen: Ecosystem services via coevolution (Ep 57)
Bee kind: The buzz on global insect declines (Ep 56)
New content on Patreon, social media and our website.
Hot wings: How birds stay cool under the Australian sun (Ep 55)
And the Oskar goes to: Germ-soma differentiation in insects (Ep 54)
Turn down the lights: The ecological effects of bright nights (Ep 53)
Coronavirus III: Town Hall (Ep 52)
A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and Contingency (Ep 51)
Big Blue: How whales evolved to become ocean titans (Ep 50)
The Vital Question: The Chemistry of Early Life (Ep 49)
An 8-legged Bite: The Evolution of Venom in Spiders and Beyond (Ep 48)
The Origin of Us: Human evolution (Ep 47)
Smarthropods: Cognition in Insects (Ep 46)
CROSSOVER: On Coronavirus, Crisis, and Creative Opportunity with David Krakauer (Complexity podcast from the Santa Fe Institute)
Season 3 Preview
RE-RUN: Tangling the Tree of Life
RE-RUN: Information, Aliens and the Origin of Life
Ep 45: Student Spotlight
Ep 44: The Science of Slime
Ep 43: Project ICARUS
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