Plants that would recover the land

2001/05/04 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Botanika
• Genetika
• Nekazaritza

Among others, a group from the University of Southampton has received a grant from the European Union to carry out a 3-year project. Universities and associations from Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland and Slovakia also participate.

Researchers aim to identify genes that give some plants the ability to accept and store heavy metals. These heavy metals include cadmium and nickel, and the plants that support them have very slow growth.

If these genes are known, it is about introducing them into fast-growing plants and thus achieving an efficient and economical cleaning of land. It would certainly be an important achievement, so we will have to wait for research results and we want them to be optimistic.