As for my last blog, plants extracting arsenic from soil, I
have found a new article with somewhat the same concept, except instead of
using Arabidopsis, a member of the
mustard family, researchers have begun to use a French Hybrid Aspen tree, Populus leuce. Researchers have used an
enzyme called, cytochrome P450 2E1, that is found in humans and animals and
have genetically inserted into the genetic instruction of the hybrid aspen tree
using bacteria. The
enzyme is known for breaking down contaminates in the liver, but produces
radicals that are harmful to humans.
Once the enzyme was genetically inserted, the effects of this enzyme was astounding, researchers found
that the aspen tree’s carrying the gene extracted the contaminant out of the
water 53 times faster then the unaltered ones.
Not only was it able to absorb a variety of contaminated but it also
increased the tree’s ability to absorb residual chloroform deposits left over
in clean drinking water.
