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cover of episode How a Genetic Breakthrough Could Address Global Hunger

How a Genetic Breakthrough Could Address Global Hunger

2021/8/5
logo of podcast Big Brains

Big Brains

Shownotes Transcript

By 2050 humanity is going to have to produce 50% more food in order to feed a growing population. That’s a lot, especially given that we currently have trouble feeding the current global population, and that food production is already responsible for about a third of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

But an incredible new genetic breakthrough may have just given us a way to address both those problems. Chuan He is a distinguished professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago, and he recently made a genetic discovery that has massive implications for feeding the world, addressing climate change and even fighting cancer.