Aussie team’s plan to genetically engineer food plants 50 per cent bigger

Source: Yahoo! News – 20 May 2024

As extreme droughts become more common in Australia, grains and vegetables we take for granted will struggle to adapt. But scientists believe they’ve cracked the code and created a process to genetically engineer crops to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere so they’ll need less irrigation and fertiliser. By modifying the plants, modelling suggests they will become bigger — anything from 2 per cent to a whopping 50 per cent in biomass. And this could also result in higher yields, more money for farmers, and lower prices at the supermarket. Dr Ben Long from the University of Newcastle has been working with colleagues from Australian National University on the concept for 15 years.