Michigan State University (MSU) researchers are genetically engineering rutabagas to produce oils in hopes of creating a crop that can sustain Michigan’s climate and fuel the biofuel industry.
According to excerpts from the article:
If everything goes according to plan, the genetically modified rutabagas growing in a greenhouse across the street from Christoph Benning's Michigan State University laboratory could have a consistency something like avocados. Squishy. Oily. Just a little more purple.
Benning and his fellow researchers have inserted a gene called "wrinkled" into the rutabagas that regulates the conversion of carbohydrates into oil.
The hope is that the gene will make the rutabagas produce oil rather than starch inside their bulbous roots, turning these cold-resistant root vegetables into a viable biofuel crop for Michigan. It will be at least six months before Benning, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, knows for sure.
Read the entire article here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.