Posts tagged Botanygeek

As a person, I love the narrative of seasonal and local food. It sounds cosy, comforting and intuitively logical.

Yet as a scientist, I know the reality of restricting the diet of a population to local and seasonal food is often hunger and malnutrition.

That’s why we shouldn’t.

— James Wong (@Botanygeek) January 29, 2019

(via http://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1090322243127861249)

This is Nikolai Vavilov, a Russian botanist.

He is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in human history (that you have never heard of).

As you and I may well be alive today because of his work, here’s a (short) thread about him on the 76th anniversary of his death. pic.twitter.com/6Dx31bYWR0

— James Wong (@Botanygeek) January 26, 2019

(via http://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1089187721434853377)

Right up until the 1980s there was a British Atomic Gardening society, who would expose seeds to radiation to generate amazing genetic novelties & share them with their members.

If I was born 20-30 years earlier I would so be in that society!#radiationmutagenesis pic.twitter.com/8qL7awjZY1

— James Wong (@Botanygeek) August 23, 2018

(via http://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1032527604186791936)

The genes of sweet potatoes reveal that there was contact between Australasia & The Americas at least 500 years before Columbus.

What is even cooler? You can also show this voyage across the Pacific just by plotting local names of the crop on a map. pic.twitter.com/8ocS2uX6NY

— James Wong (@Botanygeek) August 2, 2018

(via http://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1025073011437838338)

Interestingly the plants in this pic are technically also introduced invasive species, brought to the UK along with wheat farming. (Admittedly a *very* long time ago.)

The difference between a weed and a wildflower is kinda subjective, you see.
https://t.co/sgepZQERWl

— James Wong (@Botanygeek) June 1, 2018

(via http://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1002512419980304385)