Roughly one-third of the world’s arable land suffers from lack of approachable iron, rendering it inhospitable to staple crops like maize and soybeans. In 2018, a Stanford research team led by associate professor of chemical engineering Elizabeth Sattely discovered a genetic adaptation that allows one hardy plant to thrive on these marginal soils. Although more studies are needed, Sattely believes this avenue of research will one day enable scientists to splice this adaptive mechanism into the genomes of staple crops, thus opening up more farmland for food production and leading to a new, eco-friendly form of plant genetic engineering. “We may be able to take traits developed through natural selection and move them where we need them,” Sattely says.
Original LinK:https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/07/11/second-generation-gmo-plants-could-turn-marginal-soils-into-productive-farmland/