Luu Trinh

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Dr. Trinh is a seasoned scientist with fourteen years of expertise in the field of Life Science, including research and advanced education. His areas of knowledge encompass plant breeding, molecular biology, photosynthesis, cell biology, biochemistry, and microbiology. He also harbors a deep fascination with engaging subjects like quinoa, sustainability, agriculture, biotechnology, and biodiversity.

A critical biological process, photosynthesis transforms light energy into organic compounds in organisms capable of photosynthesis, bridging the gap between sunlight and life on our planet. The importance of enhancing the efficiency of photosynthesis in plants cannot be overstated, considering they only convert about 6% of solar energy into biomass. Boosting photosynthesis could help us meet the food demands of an anticipated ten billion people by 2050. During his Ph.D. studies at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Dr. Trinh delved into photosynthesis, particularly its complex regulation, under Professor Shinji Masuda's mentorship. His research contributed to seven peer-reviewed papers.

Global food security is threatened by the expected climate change and rapid global warming. Common crops like maize, rice, wheat, and soybeans lack the resilience to withstand increasing abiotic stresses such as high temperatures, cold, frost, drought, soil salinization, and flooding. As a member of Professor Michael Palmgren's research team at the University of Copenhagen, their group "Exploring P-type Pumps and Novel Crops" seeks to cultivate novel crops that can adapt to extreme conditions while still yielding abundantly. Dr. Trinh's current work centers on improving the resilient, yet underutilized, quinoa plant, originally from the Andean region of South America, through the use of genetic technologies. Their goal is to make quinoa a worldwide staple by improving key agricultural characteristics, including seed size, resistance to shattering, pre-harvest sprouting, plant stature, flowering time, and tolerance to heat and mildew. Equally essential is the removal of antinutritional saponins from quinoa seeds.