It turns out that genetically modified plants incorporating rabbit genes remove harmful substances in the air

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Researchers at the University of Washington discovered that genetically modified houseplants incorporating "genes of rabbits" "greatly eliminate carcinogenic substances in the air".

Greatly Enhanced Removal of Volatile Organic Carcinogens by a Genetically Modified Houseplant, Pothos Ivy (Epipremnum aureum) Expressing the Mammalian Cytochrome P 450 2 e 1 Gene - Environmental Science & Technology (ACS Publications)
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.8b04811

Rabbit gene helps houseplant detoxify indoor air - American Chemical Society
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2018/acs-presspac-december-19-2018/rabbit-gene-helps-houseplant-detoxify-indoor-air.html

A Houseplant With Rabbit DNA Could Purify the Air in Your Home
https://futurism.com/the-byte/rabbit-dna-houseplant-air-purification

Among the air we breathe on daily basis, it contains a lot of various harmful substances, from formaldehyde to chloroform . Especially the interior of ordinary households may be more contaminated than the air of the office and school where many people gather, and those who have a long time to stay at home are exposed to high levels of carcinogenic substances.

Toxins drifting inside the room are mainly caused by various factors such as cooking, showering, furniture, smoking, etc. It is impossible to eliminate pollution of air as human beings live. The plants placed in the room play a role of removing these toxins from the air, but in order to remove formaldehyde from the general room, two large plants are needed per 100 square feet (about 9 square meters) The researchers calculate it when it becomes.

Therefore, a research team of Professor Stuart Strand and colleagues studying urban and environmental engineering at the University of Washington said, "If we incorporate genes of enzymes that detoxify mammals possessed by plants, if the toxin removal effect of plants is strengthened Is not it? So, the research team looked at one type of cytochrome P450 detoxifying in the mammalian liver, " CYP2E1 " enzyme which can decompose many toxins contained in the air of ordinary households.

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The research team incorporated the CYP2E1 gene harvested from rabbits against a very popular potato as an ornamental plant. Then, the grown potatoes were put in a glass container and sealed while injecting benzene or chloroform gas into the glass container. For control experiments, ordinary pothos without genetic modification were also sealed in glass containers with toxic gas in the same way.

Three days after sealing, the concentration of the toxic compound in the sealed container containing the potus incorporating the rabbit gene dramatically decreased and almost no chloroform was detected by about 8 days later. On the other hand, it seems that the concentration of toxic substances in containers containing unpolished potatoes and containers without plants has changed little.

According to Strand et al., It is said that the air cleaning effect of a house plant incorporating a detoxification enzyme gene derived from a mammal is comparable to the air purification effect of a commercially available household particulate filter. For the moment, no merit or the like peculiar to genetically modified plants has been found, but it may become normal for mammalian genes to be incorporated into foliage plants in the future.

by Taboadahdez