With 9 billion mouths to feed by 2050, Martin wants his research to have a real impact on food security by increasing the yield of major crops whilst also increasing the efficiency of production and end use quality. He believes that one way to achieve this is to increase photosynthesis of major crops like wheat.
His aim is to understand how yield and quality are determined by gene composition and sequences in different environments (e.g. drought and temperature stress). This will enable him to manipulate the appropriate molecular and biochemical controls to increase in crop performance in a predictable way for current and future environments.