Invitation to SCI’s Free Public Evening Lecture:
Professor Johnathan Napier – Flagship Leader at Rothamsted Research
Sustainable food chains: making fish oils from plants
Wednesday 27 March 2019
- Experts have identified fish oils, such as omega-3, as important for a healthy diet
- Diets rich with omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to better heart health and are thought to ease symptoms of depression in some patients
- Food sustainability is needed to meet consumer demand and feed the burgeoning populations of the developing world
Fish oils have been found to be essential to maintaining a healthy diet but sources for the fatty acids are limiting, as they are only present in certain types of oily fish. Scientists have therefore been researching the best ways to sustainably source fish oils, including transgenic plants.
During his Public Evening Lecture, on Wednesday 27 March 2019, Professor Johnathan Napier will discuss his work producing omega-3 fatty acids through genetically edited Camelina, an oilseed crop, which is one of the most complex plant metabolic engineering projects to undergo field trials to date. Advances in GM technology offer a solution to increased food production – from disease prevention to improved nutrition – that will help feed the expected global population of 9.7bn by 2050.
About the speaker
Professor Johnathan Napier is a leading pioneer in plant biotechnology and a Flagship Leader at Rothamsted Research, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world. At Rothamsted, Professor Napier leads a team running the only GM field trials in the UK, evaluating the performance of metabolically engineered oilseeds to accumulate omega-3 fish oils.
He completed his PhD in Plant Biochemistry from King’s College London and post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge. He has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers and is the inventor on multiple patents relating to the biotechnology of lipid metabolism.
Date for your diary: Wednesday 27 March 2019
Venue: SCI HQ, 15 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PS
Reception opens at 18.00 and the lecture starts at 18.30. This is a free event.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About SCI: where science meets business
The Society of Chemical industry (SCI) is a learned society, established in 1881 specifically to promote the application of science into industry for the benefit of the public. SCI’s founders were scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs who went on to form industrial businesses at the heart of the 20th Century Industrial Revolution. The society is unique, being a multi-science, multi-disciplinary, and international community. SCI today continues to work at the interface between science and industry, conducting a range of activities that focus on supporting innovation and the commercialisation of science.
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