Artificial intelligence helps scientists engineer plants to fight climate change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared that removing carbon from the atmosphere is now essential to fighting climate change and limiting global temperature rise. In support of these efforts, Salk scientists are harnessing plants’ natural ability to draw carbon dioxide out of the air by optimizing their root systems to store more carbon for a longer period of time. To design these climate-saving plants, scientists in Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative are using a sophisticated new research tool called SLEAP—an easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) software designed by Salk Fellow Talmo Pereira that tracks multiple features of root growth. Pereira, Professor Wolfgang Busch, bioinformatics analyst Elizabeth Berrigan, and colleagues have officially debuted a new protocol for using SLEAP to analyze plant root phenotypes—how deep and wide they grow, how massive their root systems become, and other physical qualities that, prior to SLEAP, were tedious to measure. Applying SLEAP to plants has already enabled the researchers to establish the most extensive catalog of plant root system phenotypes to date, giving Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative a powerful boost.
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Getting to the root of Alzheimer’sSalk scientists are teaming up to understand brain aging. By collaborating across disciplines like genetics, neuroscience, and immunology, our researchers are uniquely positioned to lead us into a future of healthier aging and effective therapeutics for Alzheimer’s.
Salk mourns the loss of Joan JacobsThe Salk Institute lost one of its greatest supporters and one of San Diego’s most generous philanthropists when Joan Jacobs died on May 6, 2024, in La Jolla, California. She was 91 years old.
Axel Nimmerjahn— Widening perspectives through plane windows and microscope lensesInside Salk sat down with Nimmerjahn to hear how he went from curious child to world renowned researcher. Now a professor at Salk, he studies the central nervous system and designs new tools—like mini microscopes!—to study the system's various cell types.
Jálin Johnson— Enhancing equity and inclusion at Salk and beyondOver the course of nearly 30 years dedicated to advocacy work, Jálin B. Johnson has served those in need and has given a voice to the voiceless—a principle that has guided her throughout her career. This commitment continues to shape her work as she steps into the role of director of Salk’s Office of Equity & Inclusion.
Lara Labarta-Bajo—An immunologist’s journey from Barcelona and ballet to the brainWhether dancing in Spain or surfing in San Diego, Lara Labarta-Bajo has always celebrated the power of the human body. Now a postdoctoral researcher in Associate Professor Nicola Allen’s lab at Salk, she studies how the immune system connects the body to the brain and how this relationship evolves as we age.
Professor or partner? Luc Jansen’s switch from science to lawDashed dreams of medical school brought Jansen to Salk's campus back in 2003, where he simultaneously contemplated a career in scientific research and a career in big law. Though he decided on law in the end, Jansen's affection for Salk remains as he now hosts Salk gatherings in his New York City office and excitedly shares the enduring importance of basic science.
Rising Stars and DISCOVER programs provide new opportunities for trainees from underserved backgroundsThe Salk Institute recently hosted two inaugural events designed to enhance diversity within the scientific community: the Rising Stars Symposium and the Diverse Inclusive Scientific Community Offering a Vision for an Ecosystem Reimagined (DISCOVER) Symposium.
