Can Gene Editing Give Seeds a Stronger Start?
Reagan Reed is testing how genes work together to influence germination and seed quality
Reagan Reed, a Ph.D. candidate in Khanday Imtiyaz's lab at UC Davis, has a way of describing his research that might make a plant breeder pause.
“I’m the sort of person who likes to break things to understand them,” he says.
What he breaks are genes involved in seed germination. Reed is investigating whether changing those genes can help seeds establish healthy plants under a wider range of conditions.
Reed recently attended the National Association for Plant Breeding meeting in College Station, Texas, as an NAPB Borlaug Scholar. His work speaks to a question that matters well beyond a research lab: what does it take for a seed to get a crop off to a strong start?