Posted 04.02.2013 at 10:47 am
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It’s not easy to see what’s going on in a handful of dirt, so some labs use gels and other substitutes to grow plants when they study them. Unfortunately, roots and most of the organisms that interact with them don’t grow as well in fakes. That’s why researchers at Scotland’s nonprofit James Hutton Institute have developed a transparent soil that more closely resembles the real deal. For the main ingredient, they use small particles of the polymer Nafion, which holds nutrients and becomes clear when mixed with water. With the transparent soil, scientists will be able to observe how roots grow, take up nutrients, and associate with microbes without having to destroy the setup. Using the soil, the researchers have already tagged E. coli with a fluorescent marker and became the first to watch it infect lettuce roots, which can then go on to cause illness in people.
Soil Before and After: Lionel Dupuy, The James Hutton Institute
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Perhaps clear JELL-O might work, with the need associated nutrients, lol.
Beside the artificial medium not being dirt could affect how roots grow, I imagine it is also missing the bacteria, bugs and other associate living things and animals that live in dirt too, that could effect the growth of roots.
In my garden, I have a pesky mole that keeps eating the
roots of the plants, killing them, ARG!
I think it be fun to watch the roots and plant grow!
The new break through here is 7 months old and this technology has been around for years. Old news.
I'm pretty sure that Anylcon is robot... Who else posts on almost every single article without actually adding anything useful?
haywall,
You are a special kind of person to be so paranoid. I am new, I am AnyIcon.
Moles don't eat plant roots; they eat grubs, worms, larvae, other types of animals. If your plants are dying, it's because you're not stepping the mole-tunnels or holes back down. Learn to live with your moles. I have tons of moles in my yard, and none of my plants die because of them, because I push the soil back in around their roots. The moles help keep the soil from compacting, just like ants, only bigger.