Ideas worth spreading

How supercharged plants could slow climate change

2,174,489 views |

Joanne Chory |

TED2019

• April 2019

Plants are amazing machines -- for millions of years, they've taken carbon dioxide out of the air and stored it underground, keeping a crucial check on the global climate. Plant geneticist Joanne Chory is working to amplify this special ability: with her colleagues at the Salk Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, she's creating plants that can store more carbon, deeper underground, for hundreds of years. Learn more about how these supercharged plants could help slow climate change. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

Plants are amazing machines -- for millions of years, they've taken carbon dioxide out of the air and stored it underground, keeping a crucial check on the global climate. Plant geneticist Joanne Chory is working to amplify this special ability: with her colleagues at the Salk Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, she's creating plants that can store more carbon, deeper underground, for hundreds of years. Learn more about how these supercharged plants could help slow climate change. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Salk Institute's plan to harness the power of plants to fight climate change.

Donate now to help Salk Institute turbocharge plants to make a dent in climate change.

About the speaker

Joanne Chory

Plant geneticist

See speaker profile

Recognized as one of the greatest scientific innovators of our time, Joanne Chory studies the genetic codes of plants. Her goal: to use plants to help fight climate change.

Salk Institute | YouTube, 2019 | Watch

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Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Salk Institute's plan to harness the power of plants to fight climate change.

Donate now to help Salk Institute turbocharge plants to make a dent in climate change.