In animals, including humans, porphyrins carry oxygen through the blood. Recently, researchers with ARS and Dartmouth Medical School found out how some plants may regulate porphyrins. They also discovered a natural plant enzyme that deactivates these molecules. The findings could someday lead to protection for people as well as crops. In plants, chlorophylls convert the sun's light into food.
Some herbicides kill weeds by disrupting the manufacture of chlorophyll.
Porphyrins then accumulate to high levels, making the weeds fatally hypersensitive to light. But such herbicides may also damage crops in the same field. The discovery may also lead to new ways to treat porphyria. Adverse effects can include weakness, nausea, skin rash, and hypersensitivity to light. A recent study done for USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service shows goat meat stands to pick up in the marketplace because of the United States' increasing cultural diversity.