Scott Poethig

John H. and Margaret B. Fassitt Professor

Phone: 215-898-8915
spoethig@sas.upenn.edu

School: Arts & Sciences, Biology
General Topic Areas: Plant Development, The Genetics of Food

Sample Talk Topics or Titles:

• Nothing You Eat is Natural: The Genetics of Food
  The animals and plants we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner usually bear only a passing resemblance to their ancestors.  Ever since humans became farmers 10,000 year ago, we have been consciously and unconsciously modifying the organisms we eat. Many of the foods we now consider “healthy”, were once toxic to us. I will discuss the many ways that both farmers and scientists have created everything you find in a supermarket. You will never look at the food your plate in the same way again!
• How Leaves Change Their Identity
  Leaves produce all the oxygen in the air we breathe and all the energy in the food we eat, but they rarely attract much attention. However, there is more to a leaf than being green. Leaves come in all shapes and sizes, and are masters of disguise. They do one thing when a plant is young, and another thing when it is older. This phenomenon was described in 1790 by the poet Goethe in his book “The Metamorphosis of Plants”, but its genetic and molecular basis have only been discovered recently. The evolutionary, ecological, and practical significance of this discovery will be discussed.