José Dinneny rethinks how plants hunt for water
Studies probe the very beginnings of root growth
José Dinneny studies how plants grow under stress, with insights that could be helpful in feeding a growing population.
Robin Kempster
José Dinneny, 39
Plant stress biologist
Carnegie Institution for Science
José Dinneny wants us to see plants as stranger things.
“They’re able to integrate information and make coherent decisions without a nervous system, without a brain,” he points out. Plus, plants find water without sight or touch. For too many of us, however, lawns, salads and pots on a sunny windowsill make plants so familiar we’ve become blind to how exotic they are.
“We’re out searching the solar system and the galaxy for extraterrestrial life,” says Dinneny, 39, “and we have aliens on our own planet.”
