• Question: What are the discoveries that have lead up to your current work?

    Asked by anon-190536 to Dionne, Lyndsay, Matt on 6 Nov 2018. This question was also asked by anon-190692, anon-190404.
    • Photo: Dionne Turnbull

      Dionne Turnbull answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      Good question! In science, a lot of your work is only possible because so many great scientists came before you and discovered things – my work builds on existing knowledge. The main two discoveries that make my work possible are that plants have an immune system, and that certain genes mean that a plant can recognise an infection. I’m now trying to discover the tiny details of how this works!
      Genes are the instructions for making proteins – and proteins do lots of jobs inside cells (in plants, people, and all living things!) ‘Resistance proteins’ are what makes a plant able to recognise infection – I’m discovering how these proteins switch on to do their job.

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