An essential Christmas dinner item is under threat from global warming

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Dr Meacham-Hensold, of the Realising Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency project led by the UIUC, said the work aimed to meet needs for food in the face of global warming. “We need to produce crops that can withstand more frequent and intense heatwave events if we are going to meet the population’s need for food in regions most at risk from reduced yields due to global warming,” she said. “The 30% increase in tuber mass observed in our field trials shows the promise of improving photosynthesis to enable climate-ready crops.” open image in gallery Postdoctoral Researcher Katherine Meacham-Hensold harvests potatoes engineered to photosynthesise more efficiently Dr Amanda Cavanagh, of the University of Essex, said: “Our major food crops are under threat from climate change and our work has now confirmed that strategies to increase thermotolerance will translate from model to food crops. “Away from our festive plates this work could have a huge impact in the developing world and help safeguard crops for the people on the frontline of climate change.” Professor Don Ort, the Robert Emerson professor of plant biology and crop sciences at UIUC and deputy director of the Ripe project, said: “Another important feature of this study was the demonstration that our genetic engineering of photosynthesis that produced these yield increases had no impact on the nutritional quality of the potato.