Lab breakthrough can lead to cheaper biofuels, improved crops, and new products from plants
Thursday, October 30, 2014 - 07:00
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org) —Imagine being able to precisely control specific tissues of a plant to enhance desired traits without affecting the plant's overall function. Thus a rubber tree could be manipulated to produce more natural latex. Trees grown for wood could be made with higher lignin content, making for stronger yet lighter-weight lumber. Crops could be altered so that only the leaves and certain other tissues had more wax, thus enhancing the plant's drought tolerance, while its roots and other functions were unaffected.