8. Foods for the Future

Feeding a growing population is the most important challenge for the near future. Food shortage results in human suffering, disturbs healthy growth and development of new generation, leads to political instability and worsens the security situation. On line with the efforts to avert the threat of food shortage, a growing attention is being paid to the quality of food and the efficiency of its production. Human food and animal feed should contain all necessary nutrients and must be free of pets and harmful compounds, including agents causing adverse reactions of the organism. A demand has been growing for food and nutritional supplements with increased content of beneficial compounds and microbes protecting human health.

Almost all human foods are plants or organisms that eat plants. However, the crop plant and hence also animal production are being threatened by gradual degradation and loss of arable land and by the changing climate. The solution is to grow new varieties and breeds resistant to diseases and pests, abiotic stress, and with increased yield and better quality. A rich source of such traits is the genetic makeup of wild crop relatives, wild breeds and unicellular algae. To date, these resources have not been exploited fully and one of the reasons has been a limited knowledge of the structure, function and transmission of their heredity information.

The Foods for the Future research programme responds to the global socio-economic problem through multidisciplinary approaches and state-of-the-art technologies, including the methods of genome editing that contribute to greater efficiency in breeding and agricultural production without negative environmental impacts. The programme also focuses on the prevention of diseases of the digestive tract and on a better use of microalgae in nutrition and production of valuable substances. The attention is paid to wasting food and to new approaches for processing of natural materials and bio-waste. The programme comprises top research teams from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic who cooperate with university departments and other research organizations. The new knowledge, resources and methods will be used by breeders, companies engaged in the production of plant and livestock products, state administration and various non-profit and patient organizations.

Website of the programme