Episode 1 The Story of Chocolate

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In this episode Dr James Richardson takes us on a journey of discovery from his early days as an undergraduate in the University of Leicester, to postgraduate studies in Kew Gardens and the University of Edinburgh, combined with projects across Africa, Asia and Latin America. In his early work he honed his skills in morphological and molecular analyses using both living and herbarium specimens. He has used phylogenies using DNA sequence data to investigate historical plant adaptation strategies in different biomes, with a particular focus on drought. His PhD focused on the effect of aridification on plants in Southern Africa, elucidating diversification patterns, work that resulted in a publication in Nature. His most recent work on the source plant of chocolate, Theobroma cacao, and their relatives, applies similar approaches to understand the evolution of these plants and how this might help address challenges in the chocolate industry including drought and disease.

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Barbara Doyle Prestwich 2025