Samuel C Zeeman is a full professor of Plant Biochemistry at ETH Zurich and head of the Institute of Molecular Plant Biology. His research group studies the pathways and products of plant primary metabolism using a combination of plant molecular genetics, biochemistry and physiological approaches. Sam is particularly recognized for his contribution to the understanding of starch metabolism using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Starch is a fascinating semi-crystalline substance uniquely produced by plants and algae. Work on Arabidopsis has facilitated the discovery of numerous previously unknown proteins that help to control starch synthesis and starch degradation. This field is very important to society since starch is the major nutritional carbohydrate in our diet. As starch metabolism is widely conserved in plants, the results of fundamental research on model systems is highly applicable for the improvement of staple starch crops, including the storage roots of cassava by altering yield and quality. Starch metabolism ꟾ Cassava ꟾ Arabidopsis