Sélestat: A conference on the evolution of plant species over the past 10,000 years

You are a professor of biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences in Strasbourg. What sparked your interest in this field?

I've always been very curious, wondering "What is it?" or "How does it work?" So I naturally gravitated towards scientific studies. It was a truly brilliant biology teacher and the discovery of organic chemistry that were decisive...

More specifically, why this interest in the transformation of plants by man throughout history?

This comes largely from my university teachings. In the plant world, I'm not particularly interested in plant recognition (classical botany), but rather in understanding how plants became what they are and how they function. So that's the big question of evolution. But when you look at that question, you understand that the human species has been engaged in a vast experiment in directed evolution for 10,000 years.

What message do you want to convey through this conference?

Beyond understanding the mechanism of evolution (natural or directed), the message is twofold.

On the one hand, the human species has significantly modified several plant species. These changes are due to genetic changes. To be a bit provocative, couldn't we say that all species cultivated by humans are genetically modified?

On the other hand, the concepts of natural foods or natural plants, as well as those of so-called "ancient" varieties, are widely exploited by marketing today. But can we still say that a plant is natural when it has been modified by and for the human species for several millennia?

More generally, this reflection on domestication leads us to question our relationship with the living world.

Conference “10,000 Years of Human Transformation of Plants,” Wednesday, May 21 at 2:30 p.m., at the Gilbert-Estève Media Library in Sélestat. Free admission. Register by calling 03 88 58 03 20.