Inspiration
In the backdrop of a severe global food security challenge, we are filled with anxiety and helplessness. According to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the statistics from 2021 reveal an urgent issue: the total agricultural land area worldwide has reached 4.8 billion hectares, equivalent to one-third of the Earth's land area. However, what is concerning is that despite a 6% increase in arable land over the past two decades, the global per capita arable land has decreased by a staggering 18%, now standing at only 0.2 hectares. This data reflects a significant gap between the growing population and the scarcity of arable land, putting more people at risk due to food shortages.
What's even more worrying is that, despite our world constantly breaking through technological barriers, global hunger issues persist. According to data from 2021 to 2022, the severity of global hunger problems remains relatively stable but still higher than pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. In 2022 alone, between 691 million and 783 million people worldwide faced hunger, with a median estimate of approximately 735 million, an increase of 122 million compared to 2019.
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In these challenging and uncertain times, we deeply feel the weight of responsibility. The world is trying various methods to address this challenge, but with the ever-growing population, finding new arable land has become increasingly impractical. Therefore, we need to explore innovative ways to increase crop yields, and this is the core mission of our project.
Innovation
However, plants face various environmental threats in their natural growth state, and they also undergo diverse color changes during the growth process. In such a complex situation, how should we set our goals?
Project Introduction
Stress Factors
When considering stress factors, we typically categorize them into biological stress and abiotic stress. Major environmental stressors causing crop yield reduction include climate change, drought, floods, pests and diseases, and declining soil quality. According to data from the World Bank, global agricultural losses due to drought exceed $150 billion annually.
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According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, losses in grain production due to pests and diseases account for over 10% of global total production annually. Therefore, we have chosen two significant stress factors, namely drought and pathogen infection, as the focal points of our test project to validate the feasibility of our innovative solution.
Pigment
Next, we must determine what color plants should turn to when facing different stress conditions. Taking inspiration from traffic lights, we have decided to use red and yellow, two colors most distinguished from the usual color(green) of plants.
To find effective and stable pigments, we conducted extensive literature research and identified the RUBY reporting system (producing beet red) and the Bx reporting system (producing beet yellow) as two highly suitable choices. These pigments are not only stable but also naturally occurring in plants, posing no harm to the environment. Therefore, we have decided to use them as "alarms" for plants.
Summary
Specifically, our project combines the drought response signaling pathway with the RUBY system to achieve the effect of plants turning red during drought. Simultaneously, by coupling the GLR2.9 promoter, responsible for plant immune responses, with the Bx system, we achieve the effect of plants turning yellow during pathogen infection. These color changes will serve as early alerts for farmers, helping them take timely measures to save plants and reduce crop losses.
Significance
Our project has a dual purpose: to enhance agricultural efficiency and food production, while also tackling global food security issues. Our ultimate goal is to improve the stability and sustainability of the global food supply, thereby reducing hunger. We are deeply concerned about the increasing number of people suffering from hunger, and our aspiration is to collaboratively create a more equitable and plentiful world, where everyone has access to a sufficient supply of food and nutrition. This mission serves as our unwavering commitment to the future.
Reference
https://www.fao.org/food-agriculture-statistics/data-release/data-release-detail/en/c/1644720
https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc3017en
https://www.fao.org/food-agriculture-statistics/data-release/data-release-detail/en/c/1627788/
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