A team of scientists from Rothamsted Research have successfully adapted genetic techniques developed for crop improvement to be used in weeds allowing them, for the first time, to directly study the genetics responsible for herbicide resistance.
A team of scientists from Rothamsted Research have successfully adapted genetic techniques developed for crop improvement to be used in weeds allowing them, for the first time, to directly study the genetics responsible for herbicide resistance.
Since the invention of weed killers, farmers have been caught in a never-ending arms race with weeds from the moment of first spraying weeds start to develop resistance to the chemicals and year on year, the armoury is shrinking.
Writing in the journal Plant Physiology, the group report they have used plant viruses to switch weed genes off, or alternatively, ramp up the production of specific proteins by weeds in the laboratory.
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