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Genetic engineering - plants

A street lit with petunia plants with gardens of fireflies. The illustration was prepared using DALEE and is not a scientific image.

Glowing Botany: Glow-in-the-dark petunias are coming to cities

The Light Bio company has developed petunia plants that contain a lighting garden of fireflies. Will they give up the street lights?
cutting Courtesy of the researchers, Tel Aviv University

What improves the cutting process of plants that is considered critical in agriculture?

Researchers have discovered a way to significantly optimize the rooting process in the natural genetic cloning process of plants
Tomatoes. Now it will be possible to grow in drier areas. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Genetic editing to grow water-efficient tomatoes

The scientific breakthrough will help increase the yield of plants in drought conditions
Prof. Ilon Shani and Prof. Itai Miroz from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security. Photo: Tel Aviv University spokesperson

For the first time in the world: a new genetic method makes it possible to reveal the role and properties of most genes in a plant 

The development is expected to revolutionize the improvement processes of agricultural crops
Menchal Abujan Ofer Habib. Photo: Magma Photo

Abugen's seeds division won the EU grant, in the amount of 1.2 million euros

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The grant was given to the company for the purpose of developing agricultural crops with high oil seeds, increased absorption of carbon dioxide and drought resistance * The grant is within the EU Horizon program of the European Union, and was approved following the successful POC from the previous program launched in 2016
The woolly umbrella blooms in the greenhouses of the Weizmann Institute of Science. A close relative of lettuce and Maccabian blood. Photo: Dr. Sagit Meir

The new green: the South African plant that blows in the back of cannabis

Weizmann Institute of Science scientists revealed that a botanical relative of lettuce produces no less than 40 cannabinoids - active substances with medical potential that characterize the cannabis plant
Dr. Ran Hovav in a peanut field. Courtesy of the Volcanic Institute

The first collaboration between Batresides and the Volcanic Institute will enable the development of allergen-free peanuts through genetic editing

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The cooperation of Betresides with the Volcanic Institute is also intended for the development of healthier peanut varieties, extending the shelf life at the end of the harvest and adapting them to a more efficient mechanized picking
A genetically improved bean plant. Photo courtesy of Betterseeds

For the first time: success in genetic editing of the bean

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The Israeli genetics and seed company BetterSeeds has genetically redesigned the architecture of the Luvia plant and the uniformity of the appearance of its pods in a way that is suitable for mechanized harvesting * The improved Luvia will be tested in the United States during the spring of 2023
The researchers recently applied for a patent for the method they developed, and are currently looking for industry partners. Photo from the study: Nanyang Technological University

Nes Pech Hashemin, the vegetable version

Researchers from Singapore have succeeded in making the plant produce a larger amount of oil in its seeds - which may help in the fight against food insecurity in the world and make it possible to reduce deforestation for agricultural purposes. Will technology lead to a miracle?
A bowl of rice. Image: depositphotos.com

Rice-23: The rice that saves half of the work for farmers

Scientists have developed a method to double the annual crop from one to two times, while improving properties in rice that can make it at least partially a perennial plant
In Prof. Amir Sharon's laboratory at Tel Aviv University, three genes were isolated from wild wheat that acquired resistance to cultivated wheat. Photo: Tel Aviv University

Researchers were able to isolate three genes that give cultivated wheat resistance to diseases

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An international research team in collaboration with researchers from Tel Aviv University isolated from wild plants three genes for resistance to the rust fungi, which cause the most serious diseases that damage wheat crops in the world. The isolation of the genes and their transfer to wheat became possible thanks to a series of technological developments, which greatly shorten the amount of time needed to locate and isolate genes from wild plants and transfer them to cultivated plants
lettuce. Illustration: depositphotos.com

New research turns lettuce into a "super food"

The future is already here - researchers at the Hebrew University have succeeded in genetically editing lettuce and making it particularly healthy and rich in nutritional values. Five leaves of the improved lettuce per day will provide the recommended intake of vitamin C for a person
A farm in Scotland. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Britain eases the restrictions on creating gardens in crops and commodities

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The British government plans to ease restrictions on gene editing in order to speed up research and allow genetically modified crops and stocks to reach the market * In any case, these are changes that could have been made in other ways, but at a much greater speed
Dr. Amir Raz. Photo: Communications

Research in molecular genetics and genetic engineering in fertilization mechanisms examines the self-fertilization ability of trees without the help of bees

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Genetic characterization of varieties is very important for farmers, because it allows choosing the right combination of planting the varieties in the orchard, to obtain a maximum yield. Characterizing varieties that are 'self-fertile', i.e. self-fertilizing (as in apricots, for example), allows planting plots with only one variety (without the need for an additional variety for fertilization - male and female) that yield a high yield, regardless of the environmental conditions at the time of fertilization, such as temperatures or bee activity such as Also saving agricultural land
Potatoes. Image: depositphotos.com

How does a potato feel?

Researchers from the Faculty of Agriculture developed biological sensors in potatoes through genetic engineering, which warn in real time about the distress of the plant
The genetically engineered wild tomatoes grown by Dr. Kazachkova in greenhouses at the Weizmann Institute. "These were the most delicious bitter tomatoes I have ever tasted in my life"

A brief history of the tomato

golden wheat Image: depositphotos.com

Researchers returned a genetic segment of the wild wheat to modern wheat and improved the efficiency of the root system

Wild wheat, "the mother of wheat", is one of the first plants that man domesticated about ten thousand years ago. Over the years, as a result of accelerated cultivation to improve crops, many essential traits that are retained in the wild species have been displaced from modern wheat. Among the repressed traits, there are anatomical and physiological characteristics of the root system that have a dramatic effect on the water balance of the entire plant
mildew. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The surprising genetic evolution of ancient plants

Cultured chicken meat. Cilosrur SuperMeat

The first laboratory meat restaurant opened in Israel

On the right, Jennifer Daudena and Emmanuel Charpentier. Illustration: © Nobel Media. Ill. Niklas Elmehed.

"It was difficult for Emmanuel Charpentier to publish because no one was interested in infectious diseases as long as there was no epidemic"

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This is what Prof. Harmona Sorek from the Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University says in an interview with the Scientist website, who is happy about the decision to award Emmanuel Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna the Wolf Prize last year. Now Charpentier is establishing the Max Planck Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin with high budgets, and is also contributing to corona research
Prof. Emmanuel Charpentier. Courtesy of the Wolf Prize Foundation

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the scientists who developed the CRISPR "genetic numbers" immediately after the Wolf award

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A cell of Nicotiana benthamiana under a microscope. On the left: the intraplasmic reticulum (marked in green), in the center: the enzyme SOAP5 (marked in red) and on the right - a combined image revealing that SOAP5 is surprisingly found inside the intraplasmic reticulum

Foam over the spinach

In a new study, Weizmann Institute of Science scientists revealed the chain of biochemical reactions responsible for the production of saponins in plants, and discovered that it includes a surprising case of molecular "hijacking". The scientists even recorded an achievement in the field of synthetic biology: they restored the chain in its entirety through genetic engineering
xantomato. Photo courtesy of Amit Koch

Meet the "xanthomato" - the new Israeli tomato that will fight serious degenerative diseases

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Prof. Emmanuel Charpentier. Courtesy of the Wolf Prize Foundation

The Crisper keys win the 2020 Wolf Prize in Medicine - the reasons for the prize committee

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Genetically modified vegetables and fruits Image: from PIXABAY.COM

Genetic engineers correct an ancient evolutionary defect in plants - and improve the crop by forty percent

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