This article discusses how scientists are attempting to find plants that will absorb more CO2.
On a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies stands like a concrete temple: an open courtyard facing the sea, flanked by two rows of buildings. The California campus, designed by Louis Kahn in the early 1960s, is one of the most celebrated examples of modernist architecture in the world. Its stark grandeur is as ambitious as the groundbreaking research taking place inside.
The institute was founded by Jonas Salk, the developer of the first safe polio vaccine, who wanted to create a world-class center for biological research. Funded by a mix of government grants and philanthropic donations, scientists here have long sought cures for deadly diseases, from cancer to Alzheimer’s. Now a group of them are tackling another life-threatening problem: climate change. They are setting out to do something that has never been done before, to create the “Ideal Plant” — one that will help curb global warming.