Ahead of the field

摘要

It has over a thousand projects on the go, from space food to plant genomes, in five different countries. Philip Cohen takes a look inside a hothouse of agricultural research "When people hear I work for the US Department of Agriculture, they think I must be doing some kind of meat inspection," says Rob Mandrell. Of course, inspection plays a part in the USDA's work, but what Mandrell does could hardly be more different.