Discovery Of The Secrets That Enable Plants Near Chernobyl To Shrug Off Radiation

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http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Discovery_Of_The_Secrets_That_Enable_Plants_Near_Chernobyl_To_Shrug_Off_Radiation_999.html Bratislava, Slovakia (SPX) Dec 10, 2010 Scientists are reporting discovery of the biological secrets that enable plants growing near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to adapt and flourish in highly radioactive soil - legacy of the 1986 nuclear disaster in the Ukraine. Their study, which helps solve a long-standing mystery, appears in ACS' Environmental Science and Technology, a semi-monthly journal. Martin Hajduch and colleagues note that plants have an unexpected ability to adapt to an environment contaminated with radiation following the April 26, 1986 accident at the Chernobyl.
Their previous research, for example, showed that soybean plants in the area have adapted to the contaminated soil with certain changes in their proteome. A proteome is the full complement of proteins produced by the genes in a plant or animal. But the broader range of biochemical changes in plants that allow them to thrive in this harsh environment remained unclear. More at link.

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