Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More Productive Crops

Re:Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More... by pdm55 on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:13AM (#18824138)

Yes, impressive results, but do we really want more tobacco plants? I think the appropriate test will be if the results are transferable to other species. And which ones would make the most sense? Algae, lettuce, spinach, weeds? Weeds make some sort of sense because they are already so resilient, often being the best-adapted plants in a particular environment. But do we want weeds that grow even larger and faster? Scientific research comes with a responsibility to try and anticipate and avoid any unwanted consequences.

For instance: Where are the insects? Scientists are trying to figure out what has caused the recent dramatic (80%) decline in insect numbers. One possible culprit may be a newer class of insecticide:

"Of particular concern are neonicotinoids, neurotoxins that were thought to affect only treated crops but turned out to accumulate in the landscape and to be consumed by all kinds of nontargeted bugs." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalyps...

Oops, the danger of unintended consequences.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' in Search of More... by logfromblammo on Friday January 04, 2019 @10:00AM (#18824431)

The article mentions this. The technology was proven on tobacco, only because it is a "model organism" for plants. Researchers are attempting to replicate the results in cowpea, as it is a staple food crop in sub-saharan Africa.

This tech is explicitly being developed for increased crop yields. The results will be transferable to nearly all plant life, as the photosynthesis proteins are the most common proteins in the known universe.

We are refactoring code that is billions of years old, full of evolutionary cruft, to remove the technical debt.

[ Parent | on HN ]