A recent change in several plants' genetics has caused them to give off a very putrid odor. This new change makes the plants smell of rotting flesh to attract flies and pollinate them. Scientists in Japan duplicated the gene SBP1 and mutated a few Amino Acids in the gene's enzyme. The SBP1 gene makes a specific enzyme to help break down methanethiol, the compound responsible for bad breath in humans. However, the mutated enzymes in the plants combine two methanethiol molecules, making the smell ten times worse.
Hey Shelby, this article definitely grabbed my attention, thats honestly wild how a small genetic change can completely throw off the way a plant smells. I honestly could not imagine walking by a plant like this one. I didn't know anything about the SBP1 gene or how it related to methanethiol so you relating it to bad breath definitely helped it stick in my brain. This just shows us how powerful genetic editing can be when a few enzymes are changed. I agree - I can't wait to see what else scientists use genetic editing for in the future.
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