Over the past few years, scientists have created dozens of plant species, the main task of which is not to resist parasites and pests, but to purify the air from dangerous carcinogens, slow aging, street lighting and even search for explosives. We talk about the unexpected properties of living organisms, acquired by them thanks to modern science.
Plants against carcinogens
Researchers from the University of Washington (USA) have taught the houseplant Epipremnum aureum to purify the air from benzene, formaldehyde, chloroform and other dangerous carcinogens that are difficult to remove with ordinary filters. Geneticists inserted the rabbit gene CYP2E1 into the plant DNA, which is responsible for processing these substances in the mammalian liver.
Experiments have shown that genetically modified epiprenum degrades benzene five times faster than ordinary epiprenum. A plant weighing about ten kilograms per week destroyed all harmful volatile compounds in the room, even if their concentration was hundreds of times higher than permissible. In addition, improved epiprenum is able to utilize chloroform, which is beyond the power of its unmodified counterparts.
Earlier, the same researchers added the CYP2E1 gene to poplar DNA, after which trees began to faster and more efficiently clean soil and groundwater from pollution - in particular, from trichlorethylene, which is practically not absorbed by plants. Ordinary trees recycle no more than three percent of this substance.
Find explosives with spinach
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Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) turned ordinary spinach into an explosive detector by equipping the plant's leaves with special nanotubes that start to glow if there are nitrous-containing substances in the soil. It was possible to insert the tubes into the body without harm to cells by combining nanoparticles with the rare earth metal cerium and acrylic acid.
During the tests, plants with embedded nanotubes of two types - some determined the presence of explosives, others helped to distinguish the signal of nitro-containing compounds from random fluctuations - transmitted information to a sensor located next to the bush. The data from this device was sent wirelessly to the researchers' smartphones and computers.
Explosives detector based on spinach and nanoparticles / Wong et al. / Nature Materials 2016.
According to the authors of the work, any plant can be turned into an explosive detector.
Rejuvenating tomatoes
British geneticists have created a tomato variety that is high in resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant that slows aging and the development of Alzheimer's disease. One of the genes of the Arabidopsis thaliana, a wild relative of common cabbage, was inserted into the tomato DNA.
The AtMYB12 gene was transplanted into the tomato genome, modifying it in such a way that it stimulates the fruit cells to produce the antioxidants resveratrol and genistein. The concentration of nutrients in the pulp of tomatoes was very high: one tomato contained the same amount of resveratrol as 50 bottles of red wine.
The authors of the work believe that such genetically modified plants with a healing effect can be both consumed as food and used to obtain an active substance.
Grass instead of a light bulb
American researchers made a light bulb from a herbaceous aquatic plant (Nasturtium officinale) by inserting special nanoparticles into the leaves, which made this herb emit a dim light for almost four hours. The particles contained special enzymes - luciferases, which promote luminescence during oxidation of pigments of the luciferin class.
The leaves and stems of watercress were placed in a special device with a solution of nanoparticles and high pressure was injected. The particles penetrated into the plant tissue through micropores. Those containing luciferin accumulated in the extracellular space of the inner layer of the leaf. The particles with luciferase passed through the cell membrane. After a while, the pigment also got there. A reaction with luciferase began, energy was released - and the plant glowed.
In the future, the researchers hope to improve the method for delivering nanoparticles into cells so that the plant, after one treatment session, glows constantly, and more intensely.
Alfiya Enikeeva