5 ms·

Article claims that this find can advance a lot of fields. However, besides increase of knowledge in biochemical field, what other advantages would studying it

Article claims that this find can advance a lot of fields. However, besides increase of knowledge in biochemical field, what other advantages would studying it confer?

ars 12y ago
With some genetic engineering I wonder if this could be used to clean arsenic or lead from a field. Too bad it wouldn't work for gold.
- pyre 12y ago
  Drop some seeds in (e.g.) Fort Knox and watch the gold disappear?
  - ars 12y ago
    It won't work for gold because gold does not provide any energy when oxidized.
    - jonah 12y ago
      But apparently it does (in some manner): http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131022/ncomms3614/full/ncomms3614.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131022/ncomms3614/full/nco...
  - skywhopper 12y ago
    I look forward to near-future fields of fiber-optic-eating plants sown over Internet trunk lines that can use MITM attacks to subvert the Bitcoin blockchain, and store the stolen coins in SSD fruits that grow an organic USB port for later harvesting.
    - CodeCube 12y ago
      Reading this, I totally expected it to be featured in a future episode of Almost Human ... and then I remembered it was canceled and I had a sad :(
- erichurkman 12y ago
  We already have other plants that can target arsenic and lead. [1] Japan planted millions of sunflowers after Fukushima to attempt to absorb radiation, as previous studies had shown they could absorb cesium. [2] However, they underperformed. There is an ongoing challenge with hyperaccumulators of what to do with the plant material. When the plants decay or are ultimately destroyed, many toxic compounds are re-released. The cost of planting, harvesting, maintaining, transporting, and safely destroying toxic plant material can often be higher than simply stripping a few feet of soil off the ground and burying it in a landfill. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperaccumulators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperaccumulators [2] http://www.care2.com/causes/sunflowers-fail-in-nuclear-decontamination-japanese-public-rejecting-nuclear-energy.html http://www.care2.com/causes/sunflowers-fail-in-nuclear-decon...
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

Article claims that this find can advance a lot of fields. However, besides increase of knowledge in biochemical field, what other advantages would studying it confer?

ars 12y ago

With some genetic engineering I wonder if this could be used to clean arsenic or lead from a field. Too bad it wouldn't work for gold.

pyre 12y ago
Drop some seeds in (e.g.) Fort Knox and watch the gold disappear?
- ars 12y ago
  It won't work for gold because gold does not provide any energy when oxidized.
  - jonah 12y ago
    But apparently it does (in some manner): http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131022/ncomms3614/full/ncomms3614.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131022/ncomms3614/full/nco...
- skywhopper 12y ago
  I look forward to near-future fields of fiber-optic-eating plants sown over Internet trunk lines that can use MITM attacks to subvert the Bitcoin blockchain, and store the stolen coins in SSD fruits that grow an organic USB port for later harvesting.
  - CodeCube 12y ago
    Reading this, I totally expected it to be featured in a future episode of Almost Human ... and then I remembered it was canceled and I had a sad :(
erichurkman 12y ago
We already have other plants that can target arsenic and lead. [1] Japan planted millions of sunflowers after Fukushima to attempt to absorb radiation, as previous studies had shown they could absorb cesium. [2] However, they underperformed. There is an ongoing challenge with hyperaccumulators of what to do with the plant material. When the plants decay or are ultimately destroyed, many toxic compounds are re-released. The cost of planting, harvesting, maintaining, transporting, and safely destroying toxic plant material can often be higher than simply stripping a few feet of soil off the ground and burying it in a landfill. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperaccumulators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperaccumulators [2] http://www.care2.com/causes/sunflowers-fail-in-nuclear-decontamination-japanese-public-rejecting-nuclear-energy.html http://www.care2.com/causes/sunflowers-fail-in-nuclear-decon...

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]