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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Geneticist for the United Nations}}<br />
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'''Shoba Sivasankar''' ([[Malayalam]]: ശോഭ ശിവശങ്കർ) is a Geneticist who leads the Plant Breeding and Genetics group of both the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA) and the [[Food and Agriculture Organization|Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]].<br />
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==Life==<br />
Shoba Sivasankar was born in the [[Kerala|State of Kerala]] in India. She gained her initial university education at [[Kerala Agricultural University]] where she took graduate and masters programmes.<ref name=educ>{{Cite web |title=Sobhana Sivasankar, PhD |url=https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/browse/author/cf2cc325-8923-4eea-a927-686044c08c1b/Sobhana-Sivasankar-44-PhD?page=1 |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=styluspub.presswarehouse.com}}</ref> She gained her doctorate in Canada at the [[University of Guelph]] and Sivasankar also has an MBA from the [[University of Iowa]].<ref name=educ/><br />
[[file:Seeds in Space (05410443) (52995387800).jpg|left|thumb|Sivasanker receiving seeds in June 2023 that had been irradiated on the International Space Station]]<br />
Sivasankar leads the Plant Breeding and Genetics group at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in [[Seibersdorf]] in Austria. The facility there has the equipment necessary to irradiate seeds to cause mutations. A process known as [[mutagenesis]] which can cut the development time of new seed variants by 50%. The seeds are also sent from researchers from many countries who do not have access to the specialist equipment. Mutagenesis was very popular but some countries have decided to manipulate the DNA directly, however Sivasankar and eastern countries like China need more complex manipulations to cope with the many variables seen by small farmers.<ref name=bbchina/> The IAEA has a library of 3,400 new varieties (in 2023<ref name=space/>) and more than 800 of them are Chinese discoveries.<ref name=bbchina>{{Cite web |last=Pultarova |first=Tereza |title=How China is creating new foods in space |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220708-how-china-is-creating-new-foods-in-space |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref><br />
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''Achieving sustainable cultivation of grain legumes'' was published in 2018 in two volumes and Sivasankar was the lead author. [[Grain legume|Grain lugume]]s are important crops and she and her c-authors discuss advances in breeding and cultivation methods.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sivasankar |first1=Dr Shoba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGqStQEACAAJ&q=Shoba+Sivasankar |title=Achieving sustainable cultivation of grain legumes Volume 1: Advances in breeding and cultivation techniques |last2=Bergvinson |first2=Dr David |last3=Gaur |first3=Dr Pooran |last4=Agrawal |first4=Dr Shiv Kumar |last5=Beebe |first5=Dr Steve |last6=Tamò |first6=Dr Manuele |date=2018-03-12 |publisher=Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing |isbn=978-1-78676-138-5 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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In 2021 she was the lead author of ''Mutation Breeding, Genetic Diversity and Crop Adaptation to Climate Change'' which she created with Thomas Henry Noel Ellis, Ljupcho Jankuloski and Ivan Ingelbrecht.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sivasankar |first1=Shoba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ec57zgEACAAJ&q=Mutation+Breeding,+Genetic+Diversity+and+Crop+Adaptation+to+Climate+Change |title=Mutation Breeding, Genetic Diversity and Crop Adaptation to Climate Change |last2=Ellis |first2=Thomas Henry Noel |last3=Jankuloski |first3=Ljupcho |last4=Ingelbrecht |first4=Ivan |date=2021 |publisher=CAB International |isbn=978-1-78924-910-1 |language=en}}</ref> She helped with research that found [[Crop disease resistance gene]]s from [[landrace]]s can provide more resistance than modern varieties.<ref name="Relatives">{{ Cite journal | year=2021 | publisher=[[Cell Press]] | pages=1–20 | first7=Rajeev | first6=Susan | first5=Chikelu | first4=Mario | first3=Shoba | first2=Benjamin | first1=Abhishek | last7=Varshney | last6=McCouch | last5=Mba | last4=Caccamo | last3=Sivasankar | last2=Kilian | last1=Bohra | journal=[[Trends in Biotechnology]] | issn=0167-7799 | doi=10.1016/j.tibtech.2021.08.009 | s2cid=238580339 | pmid=34629170 | title=Reap the crop wild relatives for breeding future crops| volume=40 | issue=4 | doi-access=free }}</ref><br />
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Sivasanker received seeds at the IAEA's research facility in June 2023 that had been irradiated on the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{Citation |last=IAEA Imagebank |title=Seeds in Space (05410443) |date=2023-06-06 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/iaea_imagebank/52995387800/ |access-date=2023-06-23}}</ref> The seeds were sent into orbit in the previous November and the planned work will determine the effects of the cosmic ray irradiation on the seeds' genetics.<ref name=space>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-22 |title=IAEA and FAO to Host Seeds in Space Event |url=https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/mediaadvisories/iaea-and-fao-to-host-seeds-in-space-event |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=www.iaea.org |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==Selected publications==<br />
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* ''Achieving sustainable cultivation of grain legumes'', 2018, lead author<br />
* ''Mutation Breeding, Genetic Diversity and Crop Adaptation to Climate Change'', 2021, lead author<br />
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==References==<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivasankar, Shoba}}<br />
[[Category:Women from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:Indian geneticists]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:University of Guelph alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]</div>Krishna57edits