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.)

Joanne Chory: How supercharged plants could slow climate change

How supercharged plants could slow climate change

By increasing suberin in roots, plants could not only store more carbon but also enhance soil fertility and water retention.

Unlocking photosynthesis: enhanced suberin in plant roots could stabilize atmospheric CO2, transforming climate change combat.

Genetic advancements in agriculture promise crops with deeper roots, higher carbon sequestration, and no yield loss, revitalizing soils.