Potatoes get diseases? Sure they do. You've heard...

...of the Irish Potato Famine. The potato famine was caused by a fungal disease of potatoes. David Spooner is a botanist who works, among other things, on potatoes. Click on his name and read more about this botanist.

Do you eat potatoes? Do you think other plants get diseases? Special botanists, called plant pathologists and geneticists, plant breeders, and biotechnologists work on preventing plant diseases and breeding or creating improved crops, or stopping the spread of plant diseases. Botanists, like David Spooner, help to prevent famines.