Making Friends With Fronds - Understanding plants' feelings

How do plants sense and respond to the world around them - and do they listen when we talk? Dr Kim Johnson shares how an early fascination with plants' movements led to studying how they adapt to their environments. Far from being passive organisms, plants are constantly sensing and responding to their surroundings, including us. She discusses how plants have contributed to scientific understanding of processes like RNA silencing and how the mechanisms that give plants their shape can help grow better crops. Recorded: 24 October 2017. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis. Editor: Chris Hatzis. Audio engineer: Chris Hatzis. Production assistant: Claudia Hooper. Banner image: Claudia Hooper/University of Melbourne.