12 Mar 2013
On Feb 5, Prof John Pickett, Michael Elliott Distinguished Research Fellowship at Rothamsted, delivered a Public Evening Lecture at SCI HQ on how sustainable food production can be achieved using the seed; avoiding high energy intensive seasonal inputs to agriculture. He also talked about the need for secondary plant metabolism, delivered for sustainable agriculture via the seed by accessing biodiversity and using new breeding technologies and, more importantly, genetic modification (GM).
Watch the video of the full lecture below, to find out how organic chemistry will be essential in devising completely new tools that will be required to deliver sustainable intensification of agricultural production.
About the speaker
Prof John A Pickett is originally an organic chemist (BSc 1967, PhD 1971, DSc 1993) who has gained worldwide recognition, with many honours and awards to his name, for his investigations into volatile natural products that affect the behaviour and development of animals and other organisms (semiochemicals). He is a world authority on semiochemicals in insect behaviour and plays a leading role in the move away from the traditional use of wide-spectrum pesticides to more precise control through compounds targeted against specific pests at critical stages in their life cycles.
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