New plants for a new world: Targeting food insecurity with plant biology

Achieving tenure as a professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago gave Chuan He, PhD, the freedom to start something new. “I decided to not just be a chemist,” said He, John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor. “And I started to think about what I could work on and landed on RNA modifications. When we started in this field there was very little research in this arena at the time, but recently the field has exploded, because it turns out to be vital to all kinds of biological processes.”

In 2021, He and collaborators published a groundbreaking study showing that by inserting the FTO gene, which affects RNA modification, into rice, the plants grew three times more rice in the lab and 50% more rice in the field. The rice plants also grew longer roots, were better able to withstand stress from drought and photosynthesized more efficiently. Additional experiments in potato plants yielded similar results.

Now He is the director of the Pritzker Plant Biology Center, a new space to expand his RNA modification work and the research of other scientists searching for innovative ways to promote plant growth and resilience and increase crop yield.

“We’re considering many layers of pathways for modulating plant growth,” he said. “RNA modification is one aspect, but we’re also looking at temperature

ISSUE | Agriculture is threatened by climate change

A shifting climate means all kinds of challenges to our existing agricultural system. Changes in seasonal weather patterns and precipitation, prolonged drought, and extreme weather sensing, because agriculture may have to move north as the climate warms. But northern regions will still be hit by extreme cold fronts, so we’ll need to develop plants that can resist the cold and grow fast. We also need crop plants that can better withstand warm weather. We could even modulate photosynthesis to increase biomass and yield.

“In the last several decades, we’ve seen a huge amount of resources being put into human biology and health, and rightfully so,” He said. “But until now we have not paid enough attention to plant biology, and with climate change, this type of research is just as important.” events all mean that we are likely to see reduced productivity from our existing agricultural systems. Some crops may even face extinction. Many communities and regions already struggle to access diverse, nutritious foods; without interventions to create drought-resistant, high-yield crops, these challenges will only grow.