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This Perspective assesses the opportunities and challenges for synthetic biology in revolutionizing agriculture, and highlights the resources and approaches we need to remove the barriers and propel another Green Revolution.
Herbacious grain annuals in the mid-Holocene period were typically so hard to forage and eat that their use by humans was seen as a ‘last resort’, but this Perspective argues that a switch from animal to human dispersal allowed for domestication into the crops that became the foundation for societies around the world.
The gametophyte phase is extremely reduced in angiosperms, reduced to a few haploid cells in flowers. This Perspective discusses recent studies in Marchantia polymorpha that have identified conserved components of gametogenesis.
The severe threat of weeds to agriculture and ecosystems necessitates management practices on the scale of landscapes. This Perspective uses four case studies to examine the best practices for this collective dilemma.
