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articles.  Life Sciences: Year In Review 1997  Article Free Pass
In 1997 the genetic engineering of plants continued to make
impressive contributions to the development of improved
agricultural crops. The gene in baker’s yeast that allows the
cells to revive after being totally desiccated was introduced
into tobacco plants; when the plants’ leaves were cut and left
to dry, they were still fresh a day later. The advance opened up
a new way to protect crops from both severe drought and frost.
Plants were also being engineered with greater tolerance of
aluminum, the cause of a problem that afflicts 40% of arable
land, mainly in the tropics, where acid soils release toxic
aluminum ions into the groundwater. Tobacco plants were
genetically altered such that their roots released citric acid,
an organic acid that tied up aluminum ions in the soil,
preventing the aluminum from entering and damaging