Cathie Martin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cathie Martin
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Cathie Martin in 2021
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| Born |
Catherine Rosemary Martin
April 1955 (age 70) |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA, PhD) |
| Known for | Blue tomato |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant Biology |
| Institutions | University of East Anglia John Innes Centre |
| Thesis | Plant cell differentiation during seed germination (1981) |
| Notable students | Beverley Glover |
Cathie Martin (born in April 1955) is a brilliant scientist who studies plants. She is a Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and leads projects at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England. Her main goal is to find out how what we eat affects our health. She also works on making crops healthier to help people around the world.
Contents
Becoming a Plant Scientist
Cathie Martin studied at the University of Cambridge. She earned a top degree in Natural Sciences. Later, in 1981, she completed her PhD in Biochemistry there. This education helped her become an expert in plant science.
Amazing Plant Discoveries
Cathie Martin's research has led to many exciting discoveries. She has worked on special plants like blood oranges. She also worked on purple tomatoes that are rich in healthy compounds.
Early Research at John Innes Centre
After her studies, Cathie Martin joined the John Innes Centre in 1983. She was the first person to find genes that control how plant cells grow into different shapes. This was a big step in understanding plant development.
Making Crops Healthier
Since 2000, Cathie's work has focused on how plants can improve our health. She researches how to make crops stronger with natural chemicals. These chemicals can act like 'natural medicines'.
In 2022, her team created special tomatoes. These tomatoes were changed to have high levels of a substance that turns into vitamin D in our bodies. These tomatoes were tested in fields. The goal was to help people get more vitamin D from their food.
Sharing Knowledge with Others
Cathie Martin also helped write a textbook called Plant Biology. This book teaches others about plants. She wrote it with other scientists like Liam Dolan and Alison Mary Smith.
She was also the editor-in-chief of a science magazine called The Plant Cell. She was the first woman and the first non-American to have this important job.
New Companies and Inventions
Cathie Martin holds seven patents for her inventions. She also helped start a company called Norfolk Plant Sciences. She co-founded it with Jonathan D. G. Jones. This company aims to bring the benefits of plant science to people in Europe and the United States.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Cathie Martin has received many awards for her important work.
- In 1990, she won the President's Medal from the Society for Experimental Biology.
- She became a member of EMBO in 2011. EMBO is an organization for top life scientists.
- In 2012, she was made a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2013. This award was for her great work in plant biotechnology.
- In 2014, she won the BBSRC's most promising innovator award. This was for her research on purple tomatoes.
- She became a fellow of the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2017.
- In 2018, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
- She received the Rank Prize for Nutrition in 2021.
