To remember Earth Day 2021, which this year has the theme “Restore our Earth”, the Center for Research in Genomics Applied to Climate Change (GCCRC) launches the animation “How does biodiversity inspire the development of agricultural biotechnology?”. The video is now available on the GCCRC YouTube channel. The material draws attention to the importance of looking at biodiversity as a source of knowledge and technological innovation. The almost 4-minute video provides an example of what we can learn from the plants that grow in the rupestrian fields, an environment characterized by prolonged droughts and poor soils and located mainly in the central region of the country.
Biodiversity loss is also related to climate change. Several species of plants, animals and microorganisms are threatened with extinction with the intensification and increase in frequency of extreme climate events. For science, the disappearance of these species is an urgent problem that destroys an invaluable genetic heritage. Many of them are still unknown and could reveal new possibilities for the development of technologies. The person issuing the alert is Isabel Rodrigues Gerhardt, a researcher at Embrapa and GCCRC, who studies species of swifts, plants that mostly occur in rocky fields in Brazil. GCCRC scientists seek to understand which genes and microorganisms associated with them influence their natural resistance to environmental stresses such as drought and nutrient-poor soils. Based on this knowledge, there is the possibility of transferring these characteristics to agricultural species, as explained in the animation.
"We preserve and restore in a more satisfactory way what we know. Our studies will help to better understand the flora of a threatened environment, with enormous potential to contribute to technological innovation and for which it is necessary to have more efficient conservation and restoration policies”, says Gerhardt. Specifically, the rupestrian fields, according to Gerhardt, are threatened by the advance of mining and deforestation frontiers.
Earth's Day
Seeking to discuss and focus on the environmental problems we are experiencing, this April 22nd, Thursday, is internationally marked as Earth Day. Several activities will be carried out simultaneously around the globe to remember the date. This year's theme is “Restore our Earth”, seeking to shed light on pressing issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change. On Earth Day, 40 world leaders, including the president of Brazil, invited by US President Joe Biden, will meet virtually to discuss stronger actions against the climate crisis.
