Monday, December 12, 2016

Plants with Modified Fruit Fly Gene Used to Detoxify Contaminated Land

In recent research there has been a linkage in a gene expressed in common fruit fly's could be used to detoxify contaminated lands filled with TNT.  Who knew the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster could hold the capabilities to enhance the effect of getting rid of TNT filled lands. 
Image result for drosophila melanogaster
In the study published by New Phytologist it shows us how A gene in Drosophila melanogaster could be expressed in Arabidopsis a type of cabbage.  This combination would improve the reduction of TNT in soil from past war eras.  Scientists engineered the gene glutathione transferase to appear in the cabbage plant.  The plant with this gene was evaluated and shown to be more resistant and were better able to remove TNT.  The plant with this gene was compared to the wild type and was shown to better remove the TNT. 

Professor Neil Bruce from the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) in the University of York's Department of Biology said "What is important about this transformation is that it converts TNT into a product that could be more amenable to being broken down in the environment.

I think this could greatly improve the reduction of contaminated lands filled with TNT.  Also this research could better help the way we edit genes in plants.  

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161207091315.htm
https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2016/research/contaminated-land-tnt-fruit-fly/

4 comments:

  1. It is truly amazing the kinds of things scientist are coming up with. The ability to modify that plant to remove the TNT is a break through. I know that there are still fields from World War II that are still contaminated from the TNT. It is not dangers to walk over the fields but the soil, which when it rains sends the TNT more down into the earth which can then go into the water system. If they are able to modify into other plants/grass, it would be helpful for the environment.

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  2. It is very interesting to read about the fruit fly's capabilities of being more than just an ideal tool for genetic research. There are a number of fields which are still contaminated from the TNT and it is a breakthrough to be able use a fruit fly in enhancing the effect of getting rid of TNT filled lands.

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  3. Drosophila Melanogaster back at it again being the ultimate biology tool! Hopefully this brings out more ways to reduce contamination in landfills! And bring it in a sufficient way too.

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  4. This is so interesting! It is crazy that such a small organism could help greatly!

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