An off-duty National Parks officer hiking in a rugged part of Wollemi National Park in the Blue Mountains about 200 km west of Sydney encountered some trees he could not identify. They had tried to suppress the find since the discovery in August but the news eventually leaked to the press and blew the whole operation. Tissue culture experiments, studies on DNA and morphological research are also progressing. English Nature, a government conservation agency, has asked water companies to remove phosphates from effluents discharged by several sewage works as a control measure. If you cut a lettuce you are being awfully cruel.
Plants are sensitive organisms.
These words were part of a talk at a British conference by Prof. Malcolm Wilkins of Glasgow University. They were a response, in part, to students who have told him that they are vegetarians because they don't like animals being killed for food. However, Wilkins told the conference that plants are much more sophisticated than ordinary people think and he implied that vegetarians are being cruel to plants when they devour a bowl of salad or slice a juicy tomato. Browning involves the enzyme polyphenol oxidase and can be suppressed by using sulphites. A hi-tech solution to the problem is reported in a recent issue of BioTechnology by a Dutch research team from the biotech firm, Keygene.