GM poplars treat contaminated water
Scientists led by the University of Washington's Sharon Doty, reporting in the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say that genetically engineered poplar plants being grown in a laboratory were able to take as much as 91 percent of trichloroethylene, the most common groundwater contaminant at US
Unaltered plants removed 3 percent. The poplar plants – all cuttings just several inches tall growing in vials – also were able to break down, or metabolize, the pollutant into harmless byproducts at rates 100 times that of the control plants.
While US federal regulations allow the growing of transgenic trees in greenhouses and controlled field trials for research purposes, they do not allow the commercial growing of transgenic trees. A transgenic plant is one in which its genetic material is manipulated. Sometimes only its own genetic material is altered and sometimes genetic material is added from other plants, bacteria or animals.
The work being published this week raises the interesting question of the potential for using transgenic trees on sites where toxic plumes of pollutants are on the move in groundwater.
"Small, volatile hydrocarbons, including trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, and chloroform, are common environmental pollutants that pose serious health effects. Some of these are known carcinogens," Doty, an assistant professor of forest resources, said. www.physorg.com
