A biologist from Berkeley has transplanted a gene from a variety of corn into a wide spread, fast growing species of grass. The result of this experiment is this grass could become an important source of biofuel. The researchers at the Agriculture Department's Plant Gene Expression Center in Albany published their results this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists say that test plots of the altered switchgrass have shown that the gene experiments have improved the starch yield in the plants by "up to 225 percent." Also important, they report, the gene transfer blocks the switchgrass plants from flowering. Read more ...
