Video: Synthetic biology and AI boosting food production

How do we keep feeding a growing population as our climate becomes more unpredictable?

In this video, plant scientist and AFII Senior Fellow Professor Bob Furbank shares how new tools are helping agriculture meet that challenge.

By combining gene editing (changing specific traits in plants) with artificial intelligence (powerful tools that analyse enormous amounts of data), researchers can now see how crops grow, how they respond to heat and drought, and even what’s happening inside the grain — without damaging the plant.

A decade ago, this simply wasn’t possible.

Today, these approaches are already delivering results: rice varieties with improved yields, AI systems that analyse drone and satellite images, and non-destructive ways to assess crop health in real time.

Why does this matter?

Better insights mean farmers and industry can grow more food using fewer resources — supporting food security, climate resilience and healthier ecosystems.

This work is made possible through global collaboration, including Gates Foundation funded research, showing what happens when biology, data science and partnerships come together.

AFII plays a connecting role, bringing researchers, technologies and partners together to turn innovation into real-world impact for agriculture and the environment.