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18 Dec 00 - 11:56 AM (#359082) Subject: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Max New Super-Spud Glows Green to Ask for Water
Updated 6:59 AM ET December 18, 2000 LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have pioneered a genetically modified "super potato" that glows when it needs water, the head of the project said on Monday. Researchers at Edinburgh University injected potato plants with a fluorescence gene borrowed from the luminous jellyfish aequorea victoria, which causes their leaves to glow green when dehydrated. "This is an agriculture of the future," Professor Anthony Trewavas told Reuters. "We were trying to design a way of monitoring the resources within a field and decided it was the plant itself which has that information." The potatoes are not intended to be eaten but would act as "sentinels," planted beside the commercial crop to alert a farmer that the rest of his field needed watering. The glow is barely visible to the naked eye but can be detected using a small hand-held device. Field trials are due to start next year though Trewavas predicted it could take some 20 years before the plants are commonly used. The technology could be extended to other fruit and vegetables, he added. |
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18 Dec 00 - 12:18 PM (#359089) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Morticia At last, no more dead house plants! |
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18 Dec 00 - 12:20 PM (#359091) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Mrrzy This is great! Where is my agricultural tricorder? |
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18 Dec 00 - 12:32 PM (#359100) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Malcolm Douglas And next season, rabbits you can see in the dark... |
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18 Dec 00 - 12:41 PM (#359104) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Little Neophyte Hope they will branch this technology into dog food so that when going for a stroll at night you will be able to detect and avoid doggy mines. Maybe they will develop some sort of night eye wear to spot the 'doggy do'. Little Neo |
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18 Dec 00 - 12:55 PM (#359111) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: McGrath of Harlow I was just about to post this, but Max got there first. Of course.
I imagine we'll have a spate of jokes about Irish potatoes now.
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18 Dec 00 - 12:59 PM (#359115) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: MMario gosh! I thought that wilting was a sign the plants needed to be watered? Just think - in only a few years we'll be able to tell the same thing by means of genetics and electronics. |
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18 Dec 00 - 01:14 PM (#359127) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Gary T Actually, MMario, wilting is a sign that the plants needed to have been watered (sort of like throwing up is a sign that you should have stopped about 3 beers ago). Sometimes it's too late once wilting has set in. |
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18 Dec 00 - 01:38 PM (#359148) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Ringer I went to a family do last Sat eve; met my farming cousins. Far from their potatoes being thirsty, they were all bemoaning the fact that they can't be lifted because the ground's waterlogged. If there's a hard frost now, they'll lose the lot. A loss of eighty grand (that's in English quid) each. (Normally the spuds are lifted in the fortnight starting on the first Monday in October!). When I was a boy, they were lifted by gangs of women recruited from the town nearby, who regarded the job as a holiday of sorts (much like hop-picking used to be, I suspect), though now it's done by machine. I learned a lot of new words (mainly for body-parts) from those "ladies". And they can't lift the sugar-beet either, although I gather that's less critical. |
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18 Dec 00 - 01:41 PM (#359151) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: MMario *grin* I know, I was an agricultural science major. |
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18 Dec 00 - 03:51 PM (#359227) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Bert McGrath, Re: Irish jokes. Actually I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned Big Mick and his Thong. |
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18 Dec 00 - 03:58 PM (#359233) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Troll "What about Big Mick and his Thong?" he asked innocently. troll ***heh heh heh**** |
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18 Dec 00 - 04:51 PM (#359286) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: mousethief 80 grand EACH POTATO? Those are pricey potatoes! I was going to say that when I glow it's usually a sign that I've quenched my thirst a little too much, if you take my meaning. Alex |
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18 Dec 00 - 04:55 PM (#359288) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Bert Yer right Troll, I apologise for reviving an 'in joke'. I think it all started here. Well I'm gonna blame Jeri anyway. |
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18 Dec 00 - 06:53 PM (#359381) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: CarolC It won't work. Potatoes spread like weeds. You may think you got them all out of the ground, but there's always some little bugger hiding under a rock that you don't find out about until next year. The glow in the dark potatoes will take over the world. We won't be able to eat potatoes any more. FOR GOD SAKE, THINK OF THE HUMANITY! Stop this madness before it's too late! |
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18 Dec 00 - 06:59 PM (#359386) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: catspaw49 Is it time to rehash the pickle? Spaw |
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18 Dec 00 - 08:14 PM (#359457) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: McGrath of Harlow I suppose they could transplant the gene into humans. When you start glowing softly green, it's a sign that someone should get you a drink.
Horror movies will never be the same again. A ghastly green face looms up in the misty night. "It's my shout, come on down the pub and I'll buy you a pint," says the hero. |
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18 Dec 00 - 08:22 PM (#359462) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: InOBU Ah the last fellow nearly beat me too it... I wonder, if those catch on as human food, will folks in Ireland begin to glow towards the end of mass? (Isupose the pubs still close till after mass, eh) Larry |
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18 Dec 00 - 08:33 PM (#359473) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: Sorcha BI-zzzzare.........Must be the Religous Right, huh? A finger in every potato, and a potato in every finger.....uhhhhh, bye now. |
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18 Dec 00 - 08:43 PM (#359477) Subject: RE: BS: Potato glows when it is thirsty From: InOBU If I don't drink, I can read by the glow of my hands! COOL!!! Larry "Larry! You've been drinking! You ain't golowing!" says Genie my sweetie... some late night in the future! "Feeding me grass potatos!" says I (grass meening informer for our American cousins...) |