The 55th NIBB Conference
Frontiers of Plant Science in the 21st CenturyConference Review |
Reports |
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Report on the Panel Discussion
8. How can basic studies contribute to human society?
Yasunori Ichihashi (The University of Tokyo / NIBB, Japan) Plant research covers several fields of basic science. Recent technical advances have provided large quantities of high-quality information on topics such as genome sequence and structure, and comprehensive gene expressional profiles. Now, plant science is expected to contribute to solutions for global environmental problems and the improvement of human life. One of the tools for solving these problems is the utility of transgenic plants. To benefit from transgenic plants, two points should be carefully considered: good experimental design and risk evaluation. However, at present, direct contributions of basic plant science are somewhat limited. How then can basic evolutionary studies in biology contribute to human society? My idea is that various shapes and behaviors of wild plants could give us some ideas for the design of transgenic plants. Moreover, an understanding of molecular changes during evolution should provide us with some clues about how to design transgenic plants. Although these ideas are not direct, I argue in this panel discussion that we should continue to think about how we can link basic studies to human society.
≫ Audience comments and questions |
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