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Gene Discovery Suggests Way to Engineer Fast-Growing Plants

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101111121626.htm

 Science Daily, Nov. 11^th, 2010

Scientists have discovered how to make perennial grasses to be ‘more useful, which means that they could last for a long period of time and grow much faster than they normally do. Those scientists studied and learned the genes of many other plants until they found out the UPB1 gene (which makes the cells become less ‘reactive’ when the cell division occurs and also causes the plants to cultivate. After that, the scientists managed to get rid of the gene in order for the plants to grow much faster. But before they did this, the perennial grass took much longer to grow (about 2-3 years) which made farming last much longer and more frustrating. Thanks to this new discovery, farming today is obtaining cultures that can be used much faster, much easier and adaptable!

This extremely awesome discovery is really useful in a lot of ways. While I was reading it, I had learned how getting rid of one gene can change how a plant looks like, or how it can grow. I also learned that plants used for the production of biofuels can grow faster by genetic modifications, which is certainly good for the biofuel production, but also for eliminating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The scientists can investigate and research more on this topic, thus this could help make more foods and fuels, and also remove the toxic, bad pollution such as carbon dioxide. But I also think that if we were to get rid of the UPB1 gene it would have to be really carefully tested to make sure that there is no hazardous reaction or cell mutation. In general, managing the gene UPB1 could be very beneficial for the environment and farming.