Salk Institute and Suberin
Scientists at the Salk Institute have researched a gene called Surberin (and other genes) to dramatically increase the amount of carbon stored in the roots of plants. This is the goal of perennial crops and may speed up this process.
Salk: Harnessing Plants Initiative and Suberin Climate change poses an immediate threat to our future. Rising temperatures from excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has led to increasingly extreme and dangerous weather patterns that threaten animals and plants alike. The Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) is an innovative, scalable and bold approach to fight climate change by optimizing a plant’s natural ability to capture and store carbon and adapt to diverse climate conditions. We believe that our approach can help draw down and store more carbon and that we can—combined with other global efforts—mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change while providing more food, fuel and fiber for a growing population. The Harnessing Plants Initiative is only in its second year, but researchers have already identified key genes responsible for root growth and suberin production. They aim to create a sort of gene arsenal with up to 20 to 50 genes which can be modified and tried in new crop plants. Once the key genes are identified, researchers could produce these crops without genetic engineering and proceed with a selective breeding program, but the process would just take a lot longer. Either way, it may be a while before these plants are agriculturally viable and ready for mass production. The Salk Institute aims to begin global distribution in the next 510 years and achieve “significant” carbon drawdown in the next 10–15 years. Scientists at the Salk Institute have researched a gene called Surberin (and other genes) to dramatically increase the amount of carbon stored in the roots of plants.