How plants survived Chernobyl

[pattyp]

Hi everyone. I came across this really interesting article about how plants may have survived the radioactive conditions created by the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion 23 years ago. To determine what sort of adaptations plant populations surviving in the contaminated zone may have undertaken, researchers compared soybeans planted within the zone to those located outside of the zone. They found that the soybeans exposed to high levels of radiation were much smaller and took up water much more slowly than "normal" soybeans. However when examined at a molecular level, the radiation-exposed beans had much higher levels of proteins used to bind heavy metals and protect chromosomes from radiation-induced abnormalities. The scientists involved hope to continue the experiment to see if these adaptations are passed on to the beans' offspring.

A short article with more details can be found at:

sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/515/2?etoc

Patty

[fulenn]

That was an interesting article. Thanks for posting it. I'll be interested in seeing what the researchers found about the offspring in 4 generations.

Fulenn

[johno]

Interesting - thanks.

[redneckplanter]

facinating.
so if i understand correctly the metals are bound?ie locked into the plant?
could we apply something like this in the us to help with chemical dumping grounds ect?
how would you dispose of the non edible plants once harvested?