Sushi

Seaweed farms offer a sustainable source of vegetable protein. It’s become so big, that You Can See South Korea’s Seaweed Farms From Space. And a huge portion of it is thanks to the amazing Dr Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker.

Her academic research made a lasting contribution to the development of commercial nori production in the country. Drew-Baker studied the life cycle of the red algae Porphyra umbilicalis and in an academic paper published in Nature in 1949, Drew-Baker detailed her research showing that the microscopic Conchocelis — hitherto thought of as an independent alga — was the diploid stage of the organism of which Porphyra is the macroscopic, haploid stage.[3] Her critical discovery was that at the microscopic conchocelis stage, bivales and bivalve shells provided an essential host environment for the development of the red algae.

Drew-Baker’s investigations were soon read and replicated by the Japanese phycologist Sokichi Segawa, who applied Drew-Baker’s findings to the Japanese nori seaweed, widely known for its use in Sushi and other staples of Japanese cuisine. Although nori had been commercially harvested in Japan since the 17th Century, it had always suffered from unpredictable harvests and had been particularly prone to damage from typhoons and pollution in coastal waters.[6] Already by 1953, Fusao Ota and other Japanese marine biologists had developed artificial seeding techniques, building on her work. This in turn increased production and led to a significant increase in production in the Japanese seaweed industry.

In honor of her contributions to the Japanese aquaculture and role in rescuing the commercial production of nori, she was named Mother of the Sea in Japan, and since 1953, an annual “Drew festival” is celebrated in the city of Uto, Kumamoto in Japan, where a shrine to her was also erected.

You don’t know when the little big thing you are working on is going to change the world. So when you think of quitting, believe that one day your work will be visible from space.

#SheInspiresMe #noriseaweed #KathleenMaryDrew-Baker

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/south-koreas-seaweed-farms-can-be-seen-space-180955155/#Xvj8sPSePUBZddYq.99

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Mary_Drew-Baker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Mary_Drew-Baker