(Israel21c) Abigail Klein Leichman - Significant scientific advances and new products sometimes are born of unexpected lab results and serendipity. Plant biologist Shimon Gepstein's technology for producing drought-resistant rice, wheat, sugar beets, cotton, and millet was created when he and his lab team at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa forgot to water some tobacco plants they had genetically engineered for an experiment in prolonging growth and shelf life. To their surprise, the parched plants bounced back to life when re-watered after several weeks. That is how Gepstein discovered that the plant hormone cytokinin increases a plant's ability to withstand drought.
2016-12-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive