Global Challenges and Plant Science
Plant growth and development in relation to food supply, biofuels and climate change. Research-based module with emphasis on analysis of the current research literature.
Programmes
- BSc Biochemistry, BSc Biological Sciences
Level
Final Year
20 Credits
This module aims to show how plant science underpins current “real-world” problems such as food supply, biofuel production and climate change The module’s teaching is highly research-led, using up-to-date scientific literature and interactive teaching sessions.
Specifically, you will learn how plants respond to changes in the environment and how plant growth and development can be analysed and manipulated using state-of-the-art experimental techniques. You will read research papers and learn how to critically analyse them to facilitate learning. You will use case studies to illustrate broader principles of plant science, and how these lead to ways to address global challenges such as improving crop production. The module content will include:
- Plants’ importance in society and the economy: the past and the future
- How plants cope with stresses including climate-related changes and threats from other organisms using hormone- and cell-signalling pathways
- Regulation of plant developmental processes
- Understanding how plant breeders use next-generation sequencing and QTL-based approaches to generate new, improved crop varieties.
- Explore the need for genetically modified crop plants and how they can be used in modern agricultural practices.
The subject-based aims of this course are to foster the learning of plant science and to extend knowledge of the range of techniques that are currently used in this research area.
Skills-based aims are to foster the ability to interpret data, to understand hypothesis-driven scientific research and to present findings of your analyses.
Assessment
In course assessment: (50%)
Examination: (50%)