Thursday, 20 December 2018

Rabbit to the Rescue?

It has been reported that a modified 'rabbit gene' has been inserted by GM technology into Devil's ivy, a house plant (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/19/houseplant-rabbit-dna-reduce-air-pollution-study-devils-ivy). The gene enables the plant filter out harmful pollutants such as chloroform and benzene. As I keep telling my students, the gene is not necessarily the exclusive property of the rabbit (many genes are shared by organisms e.g. humans share circa 20% of the genes a yeast has). So the rabbit was, presumably, a convenient source.
-

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Sandwich Island Saga 39. Extreme weather events

It's not, of course,  just flash floods that will increase with global heating. Heat waves, droughts and wild fires will all become more...

  • Stepping On the Gas?
      It should hardly be called a study. A  Which comparison looked at levels of nitrogen dioxide and small particulates (PM 2.5s) in 5  Londo...
  • Gridlock in European Cities
      Europe has a city congestion problem. In 2023, London was the most gridlocked location, closely followed by Paris and Dublin. In that year...
  • Charging Electric Vehicles (For Road Use)
    It's necessary, where possible, to replace diesel and petrol-fueled vehicles by electrical equivalents. Electric vehicles (EVs) don...