A genetic tweak that makes soya plants 20% more productive
It improves their ability to photosynthesise
Plants are layabouts, and as such easily underestimated. They seem simply to sit there, growing or dying according to the roll of the meteorological dice, the appetites of herbivores, the caprice of pests and the skill (if they are cultivars) of their attendant farmers and gardeners. But their passivity is superficial. On the inside, plants are endlessly active. Their sedentary way of life requires it. They must continually adapt in their biochemical processes to changes from which animals can simply run, swim, slither or fly away.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Light and shade”
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