Martin has long been interested in how plants produce beneficial nutrients. “I’m told that the security guards bring people round on the tour.” On the desk, there’s a drinks coaster with a picture of an attractive 1950s housewife that reads, “You say tomato, I say you.” “It’s an absolute disaster,” Martin said, looking around fondly. Her office, a tiny cubby just off the lab, is so packed with binders and piles of paper that Martin has to stand when typing on her computer keyboard, which sits surrounded by a heap of papers like a rock that has sunk to the bottom of a snowdrift. A plant biologist, Martin has spent almost two decades studying tomatoes, and I had traveled to see her because of a particular one she created: a lustrous, dark purple variety that is unusually high in antioxidants, with twice the amount found in blueberries.Īt 66, Martin has silver-white hair, a strong chin and sharp eyes that give her a slightly elfin look.
On a cold December day in Norwich, England, Cathie Martin met me at a laboratory inside the John Innes Centre, where she works. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
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