Laura Boykin
Scientist | Tackling Hunger with Bioscience
About
Laura Boykin is a computational biologist who harnesses the power of genomics and machine learning to improve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the Director of the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (ViRCA) project, she leads a team developing disease-resistant cassava varieties to boost crop yields.
Boykin's TED Talk has been viewed over 1 million times, showcasing her ability to make complex scientific concepts accessible. With a PhD from the University of Western Australia, she applies her technical expertise to real-world challenges, empowering smallholder farmers to feed their communities.
Talks1
How we're using DNA tech to help farmers fight crop diseases
Nearly 800 million people worldwide depend on cassava for survival -- but this critical food source is under attack by entirely preventable viruses, says computational biologist and TED Senior Fellow Laura Boykin. She takes us to the farms in East Africa where she's working with a diverse team of scientists to help farmers keep their crops healthy using a portable DNA lab and mini supercomputer that can identify viruses in hours, instead of months.
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