Name: How fungi recognize (and infect) plants
Uploaded: 2018-03-27T19:56:43Z
Duration: 4 min 26 s
Description: Each year, the world loses enough food to feed half a billion people to fungi, the most destructive pathogens of plants. Mycologist and TED Fellow Mennat El Ghalid explains how a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular signals fungi use to attack plants could disrupt this interaction -- and save our crops.

Mennat El Ghalid: How fungi recognize (and infect) plants

How fungi recognize (and infect) plants

Each year, the world loses enough food to feed half a billion people to fungi, the most destructive pathogens of plants. Mycologist and TED Fellow Mennat El Ghalid explains how a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular signals fungi use to attack plants could disrupt this interaction -- and save our crops.

Fungi destroy enough crops each year to feed half a billion people, causing economic loss and even famine. Traditional prevention methods remain limited and must be constantly renewed. A breakthrough revealed how fungi use plant signals to invade crops, pointing to new ways to stop these infections at the molecular level. Understanding these interactions could transform global food security.