The Future of Everything Best of: The future of plant chemistry
Apr 3, 2026
Beth Sattely, a Stanford chemical engineering professor who studies plant metabolism and engineering. She talks about using plants to boost environmental and human health. Conversations cover engineering climate-resilient, nutrient-rich crops. They explore plant immune signaling, tomato chemistry, limonoids and citrus greening, and how plants can act as chemical factories for medicine.
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Tomato Lipids Turn On Only During Infection
- Sattely's tomato work follows chemistry that appears only after pathogen contact, especially unusual lipids produced during infection.
- Collaborating with the Mudgett Lab, her team studies lipids turned on by fungal contact that influence the infection process.
Plants Use Systemic Immune Signals Like Vaccines
- Plants have systemic immune signaling that can be triggered to elevate defenses across the whole plant.
- Sattely found molecules that trigger systemic responses, analogous to a plant 'vaccine' activating distant tissues after local infection.
Citrus Greening Threatens Commercial Citrus
- Citrus greening is a psyllid-transmitted bacterial disease devastating Florida citrus and threatening California.
- Limonoids in citrus are complex molecules tied to bitterness and potentially plant defense, warranting further study for disease resilience.