25 Years of Trends in Plant Science: We Should All Be Plant Worshippers.

Abstract

When Trends in Plant Science was launched in 1996, it seemed to be more of an afterthought, to complete the series of Trends journals, which then already covered all the main branches of life sciences. In fact, it would be 10 more years until Trends in Plant Science would be granted the same number of pages as some of its older siblings, or what we internally used to refer to as the big five: biochemical sciences, neuroscience, immunology, genetics, and cell biology. These were the main branches then dominating the life sciences. Plant science was considered a niche topic. This notion was again echoed by Marc van Montague in his editorial for the tenth anniversary issue of Trends in Plant Science: ‘The molecular plant community is still small compared with other life science disciplines, and funding remains problematic in many countries’ [1.van Montague Marc Technological milestones from plant science to agricultural biotechnology.Trends Plant Sci. 2005; 10: 559-560Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (13) Google Scholar]. Amazingly 15 years on from that tenth anniversary, I feel that this statement is still valid. Despite impressive progress in our understanding of plant science, the effect of plant blindness still seems to apply, as recently highlighted by Chris Thorogood: ‘Plants in particular are established to be a blind spot in the human psyche that require an additional layer of focus’ [2.Thorogood C. Amazing plants.Trends Plant Sci. 2020; 25: 833-836Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar]. Never mind that the study of nature and plants is arguably one of the oldest fields of science, going back to prehistoric times. Never mind that humans have relied upon and domesticated plants for at least 12 000 years. Never mind that many advances in biology were inspired by work in plants [i.e., discovery of nuclei, cells, genes, viruses, disease-resistant proteins (NB-LRR), and small RNAs]. I feel that it is symptomatic of the continuing plant blindness that the recognition for these advances is rarely credited to plant science. As much as our past is intricately connected with plants, our future is simply unthinkable without plants providing us with foods, fuels, and medicines. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry heavily relies on plants to source new medicines. It is estimated that there are at least a quarter of a million species of flowering plants in the world, the vast majority of which have not been tested for useful properties. This alone is a powerful reason to be very concerned about the current massive loss of biodiversity. According to the 2020 report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on the state of the world’s plants and fungi, almost 40% of the world’s vascular plants are now estimated to be threatened with extinction. That is almost twice the extinction rate than in 2016. But the future of plants, and by extension plant science, goes beyond just covering our basic needs for survival. Plant science has the potential to provide solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges, as highlighted in the virtual special issue ‘From Anthropocene to Planthropocene: What Plants Can Do for Humans’ (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/trends-in-plant-science/special-issue/1040KVPMT10). The title for this collection of articles refers to the current reality that we live in the ‘Anthropocene’, the start of a new geological epoch that has replaced the Holocene (the age of agriculture) and is defined by the anthropogenic impact humans have on many earth system processes. I combined this with a concept I came across by Natasha Myers, a plant scientist turned anthropologist at York University. She put forward the idea that more and more humans suffer from nature deficit disorder (see also [2.Thorogood C. Amazing plants.Trends Plant Sci. 2020; 25: 833-836Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar]) and she also coined the term Planthropocene. In a nutshell, humans are parasites, sponging from the earth, creating the Anthropocene. Instead, we should start conspiring with plants to move towards the Planthropocene. We should all be plant worshippers to aid the protection of biodiversity and the recovery of nature. But this Planthropocene article collection only covers one facet of the vast array of different branches representing modern plant science. Over the past 25 years, in almost 3000 articles so far, Trends in Plant Science has covered many exciting stories of these different branches, but I feel that at the core, connecting all branches like the stem of a tree, stands plant breeding. Therefore, it seemed fitting to focus on plant breeding to mark the 25-year anniversary of Trends in Plant Science in this June 2021 special issue. This special issue covers an array of plant breeding topics, spanning from fundamental science to biotechnology, ethics, and policy debates. Nevertheless, one issue cannot do justice to the full breadth of the field or the huge progress that has been achieved in recent years. Therefore, I asked the authors of the special issue to also briefly reflect on the milestones from the past 25 years as well as possible future developments (see this issue, ‘TrendsTalk, Past and Future Milestones of Plant Breeding’). What emerges from these reflections is the fundamental revolution that we have seen in discovery methods, speeding up our ability to collect data. The next challenge will be how we will cope with this dramatic revolution and the clear need to develop yet more tools to analyze, interpret, integrate, and visualize the plethora of data. In addition to these experts’ views, I also want to add some of my own vision for the future. When I picked up the reigns of Trends in Plant Science in September 2000, the anti-genetically modified organism (GMO) movement was in full swing. I never imagined that 20 years later Europe would still block the use of now much refined biotech tools, such as CRISPR-Cas, which are so vital for the next green revolution of plant breeding. It seems counterintuitive that people are happy to benefit from the application of 21st century biotechnology for vaccine production but do not apply the same rationale when it comes to food production. Agriculture has a huge impact on the planet, as the leading cause of deforestation as well as being responsible for up to one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, we need to at least double current food production by 2050 and/or shift the balance to a more plant-based diet to feed an estimated nine billion people. We need investment in plant and agricultural science and innovation for maximum productivity on existing arable land and minimum impact on remaining wilderness areas. Achieving these goals in the face of a changing climate could mean that we may have to choose between staple food crops (e.g., rice, wheat, maize, sorghum) to feed the world population and luxury crops (e.g., tea, coffee, cocoa, cotton, fruits). Just imagine a world without chocolate, tea, or coffee. If nothing else will get peoples’ attention about the problems we are facing and help tackle the image problem of biotech tools, I believe that this could finally do the trick. While technology holds the promise to address these and other challenges, we must not forget about the human factor in the equation. With all the scientific advances we have seen in the past 25 years, there is still much work to be done towards achieving a just and equal environment in science that promotes and supports researchers equally from all backgrounds. I am passionate about the role of science in society as well as overall inclusion and diversity. I want to do more to stand up for science and scientists and champion causes that we (at Cell Press) care about and think are important, such as providing a platform for diverse voices and an equal playing field for all. I would like to see Trends in Plant Science be part of the solution to break down barriers and create opportunities. One step towards this goal is the recent rejuvenation of the external Trends in Plant Science Advisory Board (https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/advisory-board) to truly reflect the diverse voices, backgrounds, and level of experiences from our scientific community. Another step is my continuous drive to invite more early career scientists from diverse backgrounds to write and review for Trends in Plant Science. However, on this point I would like to put out a plea to the community. Trends in Plant Science is in the extremely fortunate position of receiving a large number of unsolicited (high quality) suggestions for article topics, many of which are invited for submission. However, only 10 to 20% of these suggestions come from women authors and I would very much like to see a shift in the gender balance of these submissions to 50% representation of women. Therefore, I would like to encourage more women authors to come forward and more group leaders to support and mentor women in their group to take the lead in writing review articles. I strongly believe that diversity is key to everything, from achieving a stable society, rich in culture, to a balanced environment ready to buffer climate change. I also want to mention two Trends-wide initiatives, Trends Voices and Meet-the-Editor. Trends Voices (https://www.cell.com/trends/voices) is a new platform intended to amplify perspectives on important topics that drive science forward. We started this work in an area we care deeply about: inclusion and diversity (https://www.cell.com/trends/voices/inclusion-and-diversity). We seek to help scientists inspire action to address the most pressing social and structural issues that hinder scientific progress and we will continue to build this resource in collaboration with our communities. Meet-the-Editor is designed to encourage the scientific community to join us in our commitment to amplifying voices on inclusion and diversity. We have set up a system whereby anyone can make an appointment (https://lnkd.in/e2rY7JA) to meet with Trends editors to share personal stories of your experience as a scientist, as well as accounts of what they are doing to redress existing bias in scientific inquiry, for the benefit of science and society. Thinking back to the beginnings of Trends in Plant Science, the journal has more than stood its ground compared with its older siblings and is now consistently scoring in the top three of most downloaded journals in the Trends series. This gives me hope that the number of plant worshippers is growing and maybe in 25 years from now plant blindness will be a thing of the past. I have been fortunate in being the editor of Trends in Plant Science for almost 21 of the past 25 years and cannot emphasize enough how much the journal owes its success to the incredible support from the plant science community. I would like to thank all authors, reviewers, Advisory Board members, and readers for your enthusiasm, support, and kindness and I hope that you will continue to join us in exploring the future of plant science for many more years to come.