A game-changing solution to the global food crisis could come from something so tiny you can't see it with the naked eye. Nanomaterials chemist Christy Haynes describes her team's work designing nanoparticles that could protect plants from disease and crop loss, helping farmers reap abundant harvests and grow food that will make its way to markets and dinner tables. After the talk, Sherrell shares thoughts on the possibilities of precision agriculture.
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[00:00:10] A few years ago, I joined a bunch of farmers on the Yale campus for a conference on food policy.
[00:00:15] The discussions ranged from the price of labor to using modified seeds to produce better crops
[00:00:21] and how we might mitigate food waste while at the same time solving world hunger.
[00:00:26] I left feeling both in awe, but also a little overwhelmed.
[00:00:31] I learned that day that whatever leftovers I was throwing away at home were contributing to over 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
[00:00:41] that gets released each year in food loss and waste, not to mention all the methane from rotting foods in our landfills.
[00:00:49] A changing climate reduces crop yields significantly.
[00:00:53] For example, a recent study by NASA found that if we continue as usual,
[00:00:58] farmers stand to lose up to 24% of their corn production by the latter end of the century.
[00:01:05] This will kill profit potential, disrupt the food supply chain, and make food much more expensive for us at the grocery store.
[00:01:14] I'm Sheryl Dorsey and this is TED Tech.
[00:01:18] Christy Haynes, a chemist at the University of Minnesota, presents a solution to crop loss through the use of nanoparticles that target at-risk produce.
[00:01:28] If properly deployed, Haynes believes it could result in massive savings for farmers.
[00:01:34] Let's listen in.
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[00:04:42] Imagine you're a farmer and you've planted enough crops to feed your family for the coming year.
[00:04:49] The weather is surprisingly good at the beginning of the growing season,
[00:04:52] and the plants are growing on the ground and the stalks start to peek up from the soil.
[00:04:56] A disease that you cannot see cuts your expected yield in half.
[00:05:01] You think to yourself, what will my family eat?
[00:05:05] In the coming year, perhaps you'll fumigate your soil, maybe you'll add extra fertilizer,
[00:05:10] maybe you'll apply a fungicide or a pesticide hoping to decrease crop loss.
[00:05:15] You know that these traditional technologies work,
[00:05:17] but you also know they have some negative implications for our ecosystem.
[00:05:21] This, of course, is not an imaginary scenario.
[00:05:24] We could feed every person on this planet if we didn't lose so much to disease, pest and poor soil conditions.
[00:05:31] It's estimated that we lose between 20% and 40% of crop productivity due to preventable disease and pest attack,
[00:05:38] and climate change is only making this worse.
[00:05:42] I stand here in front of you, a very unlikely person to help solve an agricultural crisis.
[00:05:47] I'm a chemistry professor who studies nanoparticles and sterile laboratories.
[00:05:51] I grew up in the desert, and I don't even keep house plants, much less crops alive.
[00:05:56] But I know that some of the best solutions to big problems come when folks from different or even opposing fields
[00:06:02] bring some of their simplest concepts together.
[00:06:05] And that is exactly what I think is possible here,
[00:06:07] as I tell you that nanoparticles may be a critical part of the solution to our global food crisis.
[00:06:14] Let me tell you why I'm so intent on using nanoscience to fight hunger.
[00:06:19] We all have the issues that touch us deepest, and for me it has always been hunger.
[00:06:24] I find it intolerable that there are hungry people on this life-giving planet of ours.
[00:06:29] I can trace this at least in part to some of my own experience growing up.
[00:06:34] For a period of my childhood, I lived in a food insecure household.
[00:06:38] We benefited from food shelf donations, and we only ate what my mom could get with her hard work
[00:06:43] on double coupon day at the local supermarket.
[00:06:46] I loved the one day a month I was allowed to buy school lunch.
[00:06:49] Now, I don't know why my parents didn't apply for free school lunch or food stamps,
[00:06:54] but the end situation was one where sometimes the refrigerator and the cupboards were empty.
[00:06:59] Now, it's been a long time since I have worried about food for myself,
[00:07:04] but that feeling of being hungry is etched deep within me.
[00:07:09] I am driven to do something about hunger,
[00:07:12] and the unusual talent that I bring to the task is my deep knowledge
[00:07:16] of designing and synthesizing nanomaterials that can carry molecular cargo
[00:07:20] and transform into specific chemical species.
[00:07:23] Let me stop and give a little bit of background about nanoscience.
[00:07:27] The prefix nano signifies a billionth,
[00:07:30] so a nanometer is a billionth of a meter.
[00:07:33] In other words, nanoparticles are extremely small.
[00:07:36] You cannot see them with your naked eye or even a high-powered light microscope.
[00:07:40] In fact, you need a specialized instrument called the transmission electron microscope
[00:07:44] to even see nanoparticles.
[00:07:47] Nanoparticles have actually been around forever.
[00:07:50] You can find naturally occurring nanoparticles in geological formations
[00:07:53] or in the aerosol particles that we breathe,
[00:07:56] but in the last few decades,
[00:07:58] scientists and engineers have gotten very excited about nanomaterials
[00:08:02] and we realized that as you shrink things down to the nanoscale,
[00:08:05] their chemical and physical properties can change drastically.
[00:08:09] For example, a material that's usually unreactive
[00:08:12] when you shrink it down to the nanoscale
[00:08:14] can suddenly catalyze a whole host of chemical reactions
[00:08:17] or a material that doesn't usually conduct electricity,
[00:08:20] suddenly does.
[00:08:22] As scientists tune the size, shape, and chemical composition of a material,
[00:08:26] they can tune those chemical and physical properties.
[00:08:29] The nanoparticle science gives us a seemingly unlimited palette
[00:08:32] of accessible chemical and physical properties.
[00:08:35] I'm sure you can imagine how useful that can be.
[00:08:38] And scientists have gotten very good
[00:08:40] at knowing exactly how to design nanomaterials
[00:08:42] to have the properties they want.
[00:08:44] We are in a perfect moment to take advantage
[00:08:47] of all of the hard-won knowledge
[00:08:49] that has been systematically gained in laboratories around the world.
[00:08:52] And that's already happening.
[00:08:54] You can find engineered nanoparticles
[00:08:56] in a range of products and applications,
[00:08:58] focused on some of our biggest sustainability challenges.
[00:09:01] Personally, I like to work on the nanomaterials
[00:09:04] that make up the core of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
[00:09:07] But you'll also find nanomaterials in water filtration technology,
[00:09:10] solar cells, and even in clinical applications.
[00:09:14] With all of that background,
[00:09:16] now let me tell you about some of the nanomaterials
[00:09:18] my research group is developing for agricultural applications.
[00:09:22] In some ways, the nanoparticles seem very simple.
[00:09:25] They're made of silica, or SiO2 in chemistry language.
[00:09:29] This is the same chemical composition
[00:09:31] that describes glass or sand.
[00:09:33] And the simple choice was not an accident.
[00:09:35] We wanted to work with earth-abundant elements,
[00:09:37] and you can't do much better than silicon and oxygen on that front.
[00:09:41] The researchers in my lab are very skilled
[00:09:44] at designing silicon nanoparticles
[00:09:46] with controlled size and surface chemistry.
[00:09:48] We also work hard to control the pore structure,
[00:09:50] because that determines the total surface area,
[00:09:52] as well as the strength of the bonds
[00:09:54] that hold the nanomaterials together.
[00:09:56] That's because all of those factors
[00:09:58] are critically important for our end goal,
[00:10:00] which is to get these nanoparticles inside plants,
[00:10:03] either by infiltrating seeds
[00:10:05] or by allowing them to pass through pores on the leaf surface,
[00:10:08] and then once they're internalized,
[00:10:10] having them transform to release a molecule
[00:10:12] that the plant can use to protect itself
[00:10:14] from viruses, fungi, or pest attacks.
[00:10:16] In technical terms,
[00:10:18] we want our silica nanoparticles
[00:10:20] to interact with water in the environment
[00:10:22] and dissolve to release a molecule called solicic acid.
[00:10:25] You can think of solicic acid for plants,
[00:10:27] like the multivitamin that you take every morning.
[00:10:30] Plants already contain solicic acid.
[00:10:32] They use it to build their cell walls.
[00:10:34] We want to deliver an extra boost of solicic acid
[00:10:37] with a hypothesis that they'll build stronger cell walls
[00:10:40] and boost their own immune response.
[00:10:42] So now, hopefully, you can see the whole picture.
[00:10:45] We designed silicon nanoparticles
[00:10:47] to create a mass-shape in surface chemistry
[00:10:49] to be taken up into a plant.
[00:10:51] We also designed them so that once they're internalized,
[00:10:53] they dissolve to release enough solicic acid
[00:10:56] that the plants live healthier and longer,
[00:10:58] producing more food.
[00:11:00] With all of that background,
[00:11:02] now let me tell you about some of the early exciting results
[00:11:05] from greenhouse and field studies.
[00:11:07] We've made many variations
[00:11:09] on the silicon nanoparticle theme.
[00:11:11] All of them have the same scale bar,
[00:11:13] that's just 100 nanometers,
[00:11:15] but all of them are small enough to go into the pores on a leaf surface.
[00:11:19] The pore structure ends up being very important
[00:11:21] because the more water can react with the surface of the nanoparticle,
[00:11:24] the better it dissolves and the more solicic acid is released.
[00:11:28] With all of these nanoparticles in hand,
[00:11:30] we started working with colleagues
[00:11:32] within the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology
[00:11:34] to start our first plant studies.
[00:11:36] The initial studies were very simple,
[00:11:38] using watermelon seedlings in a greenhouse.
[00:11:41] We had watermelon seedlings that were going to be planted
[00:11:44] in healthy soil or soil infested with fusarium,
[00:11:47] a fungal soil-borne pathogen.
[00:11:49] Before planting them, we dipped them in our silicon nanoparticles
[00:11:52] and then we allowed them to grow in the greenhouse.
[00:11:54] Of course, we also had a parallel set of plants
[00:11:57] that received known nanoparticles growing in both healthy and diseased soil,
[00:12:01] so the goal was to figure out how that single application
[00:12:04] of silicon nanoparticles impacted the plants
[00:12:06] growing in both healthy and diseased soil.
[00:12:09] And the results that we saw were really exciting.
[00:12:12] We found that the plants that were growing in infected soil
[00:12:15] that had received that one dose of silicon nanoparticles
[00:12:18] were 30 to 40 percent healthier than the ones that had not.
[00:12:22] With this exciting result,
[00:12:24] we decided to try some field studies
[00:12:26] using the same soil conditions
[00:12:28] and the same nanoparticle conditions.
[00:12:30] So we planted watermelon either in healthy or infected soil
[00:12:34] and we allowed them to grow for 100 days.
[00:12:36] We tracked the fungal disease
[00:12:38] and we also measured the amount of fruit
[00:12:40] after 100 days.
[00:12:41] And what we found is that that one application
[00:12:44] of 1 to 2 milliliters of silicon nanoparticles
[00:12:47] way back at the seedling stage
[00:12:49] led us to a 70 percent increase in watermelon yield.
[00:12:54] Ideally, none of the nanoparticles would end up in the fruit
[00:12:57] that people are going to eat.
[00:12:59] So we analyzed the roots and the above-ground tissue
[00:13:01] and the edible fruit for any sign of silicon nanoparticles.
[00:13:04] We saw no increased silicon in the edible watermelon fruit,
[00:13:08] meaning that these nanoparticles did exactly what we designed them to do.
[00:13:12] Given the small amount of nanomaterials
[00:13:14] that we applied to each one of those plants,
[00:13:16] the cost per plant is only about two cents
[00:13:19] or $19 for an acre.
[00:13:22] This is a cost-effective treatment
[00:13:24] by adding $19 worth of nanoparticles
[00:13:26] to the average fertilizer cost of $250,
[00:13:29] a farmer would yield thousands of dollars increase in fruit production.
[00:13:34] With these exciting results in hand,
[00:13:36] we have a lot of other experiments planned and in progress.
[00:13:39] We want to do multiple applications of nanoparticles
[00:13:42] and applications later in the growth process
[00:13:44] to see if that further increases our yield.
[00:13:46] We want to do studies on soybean and wheat,
[00:13:48] critical crops here in the Midwest and around the world.
[00:13:52] Two researchers in my lab recently applied silicon nanoparticles
[00:13:55] to potato plants in the field.
[00:13:57] They're going to help harvest and analyze the results this fall.
[00:14:00] I hope that what you see is that this data is really compelling
[00:14:04] and that nanoparticles have tons of potential
[00:14:07] to help decrease crop loss.
[00:14:09] And I only told you about silicon nanoparticles.
[00:14:12] I can imagine other important chemical compositions
[00:14:15] and even parallel application,
[00:14:17] like the remediation of soil pollutants.
[00:14:19] I ask you all to be open-minded about nanotechnology,
[00:14:22] encouraging funding agencies worldwide to invest.
[00:14:25] In the U.S., ask your senators and representatives
[00:14:28] to invest in the National Science Foundation,
[00:14:30] the National Institutes of Health
[00:14:32] and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
[00:14:34] for both basic and translational research.
[00:14:37] I know farmers are already embracing advanced technology
[00:14:40] in terms of robots and drones and implant sensors.
[00:14:43] I encourage them to embrace this advance as well.
[00:14:47] Now, go back to imagining that you're that farmer
[00:14:51] and you've planted enough crops to feed your family
[00:14:53] for the coming year.
[00:14:54] You do all of the normal things,
[00:14:56] except this time maybe you use seeds
[00:14:58] that were infiltrated with silicon nanoparticles,
[00:15:00] or maybe you go through once
[00:15:02] and you spray silicon nanoparticles onto your crops.
[00:15:05] As these tiny nanoparticles deliver a big boost
[00:15:08] of solicic acid from the inside,
[00:15:10] your plants overcome disease,
[00:15:12] and your family is fed.
[00:15:14] Let's use all of the hard work that has been done
[00:15:17] on basic nanotechnology research
[00:15:19] to feed our global family for years to come.
[00:15:22] Thank you.
[00:15:23] Thank you.
[00:15:53] The idea of precision agriculture is expanding.
[00:16:00] Nanoparticles are already being used
[00:16:02] to solve lots of issues on the farm,
[00:16:05] such as churning better nutrients within the soil
[00:16:08] and increasing the water-holding capacity of plants
[00:16:11] to help mitigate the effects of nanoparticles.
[00:16:14] The idea of precision agriculture is expanding.
[00:16:17] Nanoparticles are already being used
[00:16:19] to solve lots of issues on the farm,
[00:16:22] to help mitigate unforeseen events like droughts
[00:16:25] or water loss.
[00:16:27] And as Haynes mentioned,
[00:16:29] farmers are already embracing advanced technologies
[00:16:32] to help out on the farm to create greater efficiencies.
[00:16:35] As the research continues and becomes much more accessible,
[00:16:39] we may see a world where regular use
[00:16:42] of silicon nanoparticles is less novel
[00:16:45] and more standard amid a changing climate
[00:16:47] and growing population.
[00:16:52] TED Tech is part of the TED Audio Collective.
[00:16:55] This episode was produced by Nina Lawrence,
[00:16:58] edited by Alejandro Salazar,
[00:17:00] and fact-checked by Julia Dickerson.
[00:17:03] Special thanks to Maria Latias,
[00:17:05] Ferde Grunge, Cory Hajim,
[00:17:07] Daniela Balareso,
[00:17:09] and Michelle Quint.
[00:17:10] I'm Cheryl Dorsey.
[00:17:12] Thanks for listening and talk to you again next week.
[00:17:22] We'll be right back.
[00:17:52] Thank you for watching.