Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) hosted the International Symposium on Future Plants on May 8, where experts from China and abroad discussed how plant science can support green innovation, food security, and sustainable development amid climate change and demographic shifts.

The symposium was organized by HZAU's College of Plant Science and Technology, College of Bio-X, and College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences. Scholars from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Copenhagen, the International Rice Research Institute, and HZAU attended the event.

HZAU President Yan Jianbing stated that the symposium focused on the role of plants in future human development. He emphasized that researchers should explore how plants can be reshaped into high-yield, low-carbon, and eco-friendly biological platforms through regulatory network redesign, organ development reprogramming, metabolic reconstruction, and plant-environment optimization.

The event featured eight academic reports on genetics, metabolic biology, developmental biology, artificial intelligence, and horticultural science. Ralph Bock from the Max Planck Institute discussed chloroplast and mitochondrial genome engineering, while Alisdair Fernie, also from the institute, shared research on functional metabolomics and crop improvement. Kerstin Kaufmann from Humboldt University of Berlin focused on cell-state trajectories and regulatory programs in Arabidopsis flower development.

HZAU scholars also presented their latest work. Yan Wenhao discussed future plants for healthy food and sustainable development, while Jin Shuangxia shared progress in cotton genome editing and molecular breeding. Marek Mutwil from the University of Copenhagen spoke on knowledge graph-driven gene function prediction, and Nese Sreenivasulu from the International Rice Research Institute discussed metabolic reprogramming for improving rice nutritional density.

The symposium highlighted the potential of plant science in food security, nutrition, and low-carbon agriculture, while also providing a platform for interdisciplinary and international cooperation.

Experts attend the International Symposium on Future Plants at Huazhong Agricultural University. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]