Climate change is going to put a severe strain on the ability of the world’s plants to survive. Entire ecosystems could collapse with the loss of key plants, and agriculture could implode as we know it. Though over time these plants might evolve and develop more robust traits to beat the heat and survive harsher weather, things may be warming too rapidly for us to simply wait for evolution to take the wheel.

Scientists at Stanford University think they may have a solution: genetic circuits that can turn the dial on specific genes to control the root growth of plants, paving the way to developing “smart plants” that can respond to climate change. The team tested out these new circuits by applying them to tobacco leaves and arabidopsis plants, and published the results [August 11] in the journal Science.

These synthetic circuits can only turn on in the presence of these promoters, which means that the desired changes would only affect parts of the plant—not the whole. [Researcher José] Dinneny said that this degree of control over their modifications could be a benefit compared to traditional genetic modification used to make GMOs, which affect the entire crop.

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