Mutant trees use rabbit genes to clean polluted soil

[pscot]

This is a long article which includes a discussion of theissues raised by genetically modified plants. A good read.


http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/123755.asp


By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER

Super trees that suck up and destroy toxic chemicals from the air and water faster than regular trees are the latest creation by scientists at the University of Washington.

When the scientists stick a rabbit gene into poplar trees, the trees become dramatically better at eliminating a dozen kinds of pollutants commonly found on poisoned properties.

The trees could prevent the need for digging up tons of soil or pumping out millions of gallons of water for treatment and disposal. They naturally render a list of cancer-causing pollutants -- benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), vinyl chloride, chloroform -- non-toxic.

But while the poplars could benefit cleanup projects, they raise a multitude of ecological and ethical concerns.

Many people are worried about transgenic organisms, in which a gene from one species is inserted into another, whether it's corn that produces a pig vaccine or a soybean that makes its own pesticide. There are concerns that mutant plants could spread, entering the food supply and threatening human health. Or they could interbreed with normal plants, transferring herbicide resistance to weeds, for example. No one can predict all of the potential side effects of a new gene on the host plant or other plants and animals.

When it comes to the pollution-consuming poplars, "it's really a question of trading some of the unknown risks of planting genetically modified trees with the positive environmental benefits," said Andrew Light, a UW professor of philosophy and public affairs. "This is a real dilemma for the environmental community.....(more)

[NickB79]

1. At least they're using poplars. Hybrid poplars can't reproduce

Their only means of spreading is through root runners, so simply cutting down the trees and spraying the area with Round-Up would make for easy containment of the GE trees to the specific site they were planted on.

[sakabatou]

2. Remind me of the trees from FMA

The ones that cleaned the red water.

[MADem]

3. Good read, and a helluva sci-fi subject line, too!!!! nt

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Scientific American: Pollution-Busting Plants

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=A5B6ED51-E7F2-99DF-30AEE27247438296

October 15, 2007

Pollution-Busting Plants

Transgenic trees and plants may break down the pollutants left behind at sites ranging from former factories to firing ranges

A French hybrid of an aspen tree may one day rid water supplies of the industrial degreaser—and human carcinogen—trichloroethylene (TCE), one of the most common contaminants at toxic waste sites in the U.S. And the tiny, but tractable, Arabidopsis plant may mop up the residue of RDX, a military explosive blasted into the soils at firing ranges.

"Plants are a good method for remediating soil and water," says Stuart Strand, an environmental engineer at the University of Washington who has worked on creating the genetically modified pollution-gobbling aspen tree. Even in their natural state, such trees and plants absorb environmental contaminants and break them down into harmless components—all with the power of the sun.

...