Jumping genes for efficiency At the moment there is no efficient way to precisely insert large chunks of DNA in a plants genome. Now American researchers show a way in Nature that is ten times as efficient than current methods. Sometimes you like to insert a gene in order to find out what it does.Continue reading “Jumping genes for efficiency”
Category Archives: Paper highlight
Climate robust coffee
Climate robust coffee That cup of coffee you drank this morning, it was likely made from Arabica coffee beans. However, the Arabica coffee plant is a bit delicate. It likes gentle temperatures and is disease sensitive. The expectation is that due to climate change its production decreases with 80%. But don’t worry, there is anContinue reading “Climate robust coffee”
Space surviving moss
Space surviving moss The plant version of the tardigrade, or water bears, is the steppe screw-moss, Syntrichia caninervis. That are Chinese researchers writing in The Innovation. Tardigrades are known about their ability to survive extreme circumstances. It can handle extreme cold, radiation and dehydration. It would therefore survive a trip in outer space. No researchersContinue reading “Space surviving moss”
Disrupting hurricanes
Disrupting hurricanes Researchers long thought that plants pollinated by specialised pollinators risk an evolutionary dead end. Now a group of international researchers show in New Pythologist that this does not have to be the case. The Caribbean island Dominica contains an exception on the rule that plants located on islands don’t have specialised pollinators. TwoContinue reading “Disrupting hurricanes”
Plant en Zo 