Alison Mary Smith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alison Smith
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Smith in 2016
|
|
| Born | 1954 (age 70–71) |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (PhD) |
| Awards | |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | Effect of anaerobiosis on plant metabolism (1978) |
Alison Mary Smith, born in 1954, is a British biologist. This means she is a scientist who studies living things, especially plants. She works as a top leader at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK. She is also an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Contents
Education and Early Research
Alison Smith studied at the University of Cambridge. In 1978, she earned her PhD degree. For her PhD, she researched how plants use energy when there is no oxygen around. This process is called anaerobiosis.
Understanding Plant Energy
Professor Smith studies how plants use starch and sucrose for energy. These are types of carbohydrates that plants make during photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is how plants use sunlight to create their food. These carbohydrates are like fuel that helps plants grow.
How Plants Make and Use Starch
Her research has helped us understand the steps plants take to make and break down starch. Starch is stored in tiny grains inside plants. She found that these processes in plant leaves are controlled by the plant's internal circadian clock. This clock works like our own body clock, following the day-night cycle. This control makes sure plants have enough carbohydrates to keep going, even during the night.
Plant Growth and Food Production
Now, Professor Smith focuses on how this control works. She also studies how the amount of carbohydrates available affects how plants grow and develop. She uses what she learns from these basic studies to look at how starch is used in important crop plants.
Improving Crops for the Future
Her current work on how starch is made in cereal grains (like wheat or rice) could help us grow more food. It could also change how flour works and how healthy it is for us. Her team is also looking at the genes, chemicals, and tiny parts that control how starch breaks down in leaves and storage parts of plants. They want to know how this process helps plants grow, sprout, and germinate.
Alison Smith also helped write a textbook called Plant Biology with other scientists.
Awards and Recognition
Professor Smith has received important awards for her work. In 2006, she was given the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award. This was for her great contributions to understanding plant biochemistry. In 2016, she was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
Personal Life
Alison Smith's father was Ted Smith, a pioneer in protecting nature. Her sister, Dr Helen Smith, is an arachnologist, which means she studies spiders.
Images for kids
-
Smith in 2016
