One Of The Problems With Plants,

is that when they are stressed they cannot tell you that they are,

photograph © Shilo Rosenwasser Hebrew University, and by the time you realise that they are stressed as in say lack of water, cold weather, lack of sunlight, strong light etc. it is more often than not too late to help them, but what if the plant could tell you they are stressed? scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are hoping to fix this big problem with the help of advanced genetic manipulation, a team of Israeli researchers led by Dr. Shilo Rosenwaser managed to genetically modify a potato plant so that it glows under fluorescent light when affected by physical stress, “We were able to monitor the fluorescence signals emitted from the biosensors and noticed the accumulation of reactive oxygen species during the early phase responses to stress conditions such as drought, extreme temperature, and high light,” Dr. Rosenwaser told Alpha Galileo, the researchers chose to focus on the humble potato for their study, as it is a major food crop that comprises 40% of Israel’s exports, what an amazing piece of research.