This Plant Genetically Engineered Itself (So We Don't Have To)

Scientists found a species of wheatgrass that is resistant to fungus, but how it became resistant is both surprising and unclear.

Hosted by: Michael Aranda

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[Catman]

People: “Nooo! I don’t want genetically modified plants!!”
Wheat: “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

[Nhojneirbo]

This is the reason we need to protect species diversity. ‘Wild ‘ and seemingly ‘useless ‘ species can often supply genetic material that domestic plants and animals need to sustain their viability as food sources for humans.

[SlimThrull]

Rabble: GMOs are bad!
Scientists: But we didn't do this. It happened naturally.
Rabble: Uh... Then it's good!
Me. O.o

[adampickard]

Horizontal gene transfer is so interesting. Non vertical gene transfer in general !

[dynamicworlds]

"Draw from a bunch of different fields"
I see what you did there

[OLBICHL]

It's the work of the greatest scientist ever... chaos and chance XD

[melvinshine]

The title of the video totally sounds like the slogan of some commercial.
"From the makers of Pollen, Nature brings you, Horizontal Gene Transfer. Modifying plants, so you don't have to. H-G-T!"

[WilliamMcAlpine]

And people say GM crops are unnatural! 🌾

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“The chicken is only an egg’s way for making another egg.”
― Richard Dawkins

[drd]

One of many FHB resistance genes. Breeders have been balancing trade-offs among yield, quality and resistance for decades.

[ScionStorm]

Horizontal Gene Transference: When DNA yeets over to a neighbor strand.

[Daviticus]

"Hi, I'm the Nostalgia Plant! I engineered myself so you don't have to!"

[lemmingscanfly]

If a plant can steal a gene from a freaking fungus by accident, surely humans can more easily inherit that gene to another plant on purpose.

[skalex]

woah, plants changing their genes by themselves. thats some strange stuff :0

[stephengfazio]

My dad is a USDA geneticist and breeds apples. He bred in resistance to fire blight, powdery mildews, and deals with root nutrient uptake and resistance to drought. These are pretty standard features from the USDA crops.

By breeding root systems, you can influence the size and shape of the scion they graft on top. Dwarfing root systems whose scion only grow to 14-18 feet are popular because they keep fruit closer to the ground for it to be picked and produce fruit in 4-6 years instead of 7-9 making a faster return on investment for farmers.

The unsolved mystery is something called replant disease, that makes a plot of land that once grew apples unproductive for any further apple cultivation. You replant, but your apples don't grow...

[electronresonator]

Darwin : "self GMO, ....I see, now you want to make a new word for evolution"

[Seadalgo]

And just like that, Epichloë has conscripted the world's deadliest and most oblivious hitman

[J_Lag]

This finding could of saved Earth in the movie Interstellar.

[Karoku]

I'm the Geneticist! I engineer it so YOU don't have to!"

[Rubrickety]

That stock-footage couple are _totally_ going to take a roll in the wheat inside five minutes.