Talking Biotech: Genetically engineering plants to resist disease

Following on the January 16 episode, plants contain a family of genes called “R genes” that play important roles in resistance to disease. They are part of an evolutionary arms race between plants and pathogens. This week’s guest is Matt Heml, a graduate student at Indiana University working for Roger Innes, a biologist who specializes in molecular and cellular basis of disease resistance in plants. The Innes Lab researches how to be able to rework the networks in plants that sense pathogens, hoping to adapt their sensitivity to threats not innately sensed.