
Could A Superplant Save the World? - "The seedlings in a California lab that could help curb global warming." The Salk Institute Cover Feature for FT Weekend Magazine UK

A view of the Courtyard and the River of Life at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Assistant Professor Julie Law, the Hearst Foundation Development Chair and member of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Laboratory works in a greenhouse at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

The seed-planting robot and plants in the greenhouse which contains experiments with the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The plant which is a weed from the mustard family, is very commonly used for plant biology research because it is small, quick to grow, and produces lots of seeds. It was the first plant to have its genome sequenced by a consortium of scientists that included Salk researchers.

Bark samples from the cork oak tree (scientific name: Quercus suber).

Professor Joanne Chory, the director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Laboratory and is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology.

Bark samples from the cork oak tree (scientific name: Quercus suber).

A view of campus architecture at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

A grow room where plants that belong to the genus [one organizational category higher than “species”]: Arabidopsis, Lotus and Medicago. The grow rooms allow the researchers to control day length/amount of light, temperature and humidity.


Professor Joseph Noel, director of the Jack H. Skirball Center for Chemical Biology and Proteomics and Arthur and Julie Woodrow Chair in stands in a laboratory at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.


A grow room where plants that belong to the genus [one organizational category higher than “species”]: Arabidopsis, Lotus and Medicago. The grow rooms allow the researchers to control day length/amount of light, temperature and humidity.