Metal-Eating Plants

[geekerati]

If we could only train them to eat SUV's, we would really have something.

Attack of the Metal-Eating Plants

02:00 AM Feb. 12, 2005

Genetically modified plants may be the green solution for cleaning up contaminated soils.

The results of a successful field trial in California last year were published last week in the online arm of Environmental Science & Technology. They showed that genetic engineering boosted a plant's ability to absorb selenium, a toxic heavy metal, by 430 percent.


"It was our first trial, and we were surprised at how well it worked," said study author Norman Terry, a professor of plant and microbial biology with the University of California, Berkeley.

Phytoremediation -- the use of plants to absorb or break down contaminants -- has been used over the past decade with varying success. Genetic engineering offers the potential to ramp up the slow-growing phytoremediation industry with a new generation of toxin-cleaning super plants.

Terry chose Indian mustard, a fast-growing plant with natural abilities to tolerate toxic soils. He genetically enhanced the plant's ability to convert selenium into a nontoxic form. That allowed the plants to accumulate more of the contaminant without being killed.

Wired News

[Ashley]

Wow, they might just have something there! I hope it leads to a better future for the Earth.

[Stuff2Do]

or they eat the earth, lol, jk, i hope they find a good use for them, i bet they spent loads of money on doing it tho, and no use for them

[cvrk3]

I am a naturalist! genetic modification is anethma to me.. because it is against nature!
instead of modifying you should identify the natural bodies which do the modifictions.
still the news is worth its weight in metal