Standing strong and silent, plants are all around us, both shaping our world and responding to it.  Plants can live for hundreds, if not thousands of years, continuously renewing themselves through active stem cells, yet also avoiding cancer. What lessons might we learn about our own biological potential from a closer look at their life strategies?

 
Dr. Dominique Bergmann, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Department of Biology, Stanford University
Adjunct staff member, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science