Pamela Ronald: For a truly sustainable agriculture, open to the new technologies Authors Núria S. Coll Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica (CRAG) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2436/20.1501.02.222 Keywords: agriculture, sustainability, genetically modified organisms, environment Abstract Pamela Ronald is an American biologist who currently teaches at the University of California-Davis. She has made important advances on the mechanisms regulating the stress responses of one of the most important crops worldwide: rice. Ronald has discovered new mechanisms of both pathogen resistance and flood tolerance in rice plants. Aside from this significant contribution to basic science, Ronald has applied her knowledge to the development of new varieties of commercial rice that incorporate these innovative features. Additionally she has been actively involved in improving the processes that regulate the protection of intellectual property and the licensing of discoveries made in the public sector, looking for new formulas to ensure that the most disadvantaged countries can also benefit from them. Throughout her career, Ronald has carried out an impressive job of spreading the idea of sustainable agriculture as a way of coping with the increase in food demand predicted for the coming years due to the increase in population, particularly in underdeveloped and developing countries. Pamela Ronald is a fervent advocate of introducing new farming practices that are more ecological and applicable on a large scale, incorporating new technologies that include the genetic modification of crops to increase productivity or to introduce desirable new characteristics. Author Biography Núria S. Coll, Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica (CRAG) Científica del Consell Superior d’Investigacions Científiques (CSIC) i investigadora principal al Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica (CRAG). Durant la seva carrera ha fet importants contribucions al camp de la immunitat i la mort cel·lular en plantes, amb articles publicats en revistes d’alt impacte com Science, PNAS, Cell Death & Differentiation, New Phytologist, entre d’altres. Ha obtingut nombroses beques i contractes competitius de prestigi nacionals i internacionals, com Marie Curie, Beatriu de Pinós, Swiss National Science Foundation i Ramón y Cajal. La seva activitat científica ha estat guardonada amb el Premi Josep M. Sala-Trepat de la Societat Catalana de Biologia i la Placa de Honor de la Asociación Española de Científicos, entre d’altres. Al llarg de la seva carrera, la doctora Coll sempre ha mostrat una gran dedicació a la transferència de coneixement i també a la divulgació científica, per tal de fer arribar a la societat la recerca en biologia molecular i biotecnologia de plantes. Downloads PDF (Català) Published 2024-01-24 Issue Vol. 73 (2023) Section Articles License The intellectual property of the articles belongs to the respective authors. At the time of submitting the articles to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, authors accept the following terms: — Authors assign to the SCB (a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, public communication (including communication through social networks) and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, in any form and medium, including digital platforms. 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