As part of a collaboration between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists are searching for alternatives to reduce the potentially harmful effects of global warming.
The study, released in the journal BioScience Oct. 1, examines how various genetically modified plants process excess carbon dioxide and store or convert it into different forms of carbon. While plants and trees already dampen the impact of carbon emissions by absorbing the gas, genetically modifying plants would amplify their capabilities.
Christer Jansson, lead author of the study’s review, said he believes that using genetically modified plants to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions is important for the future in lessening the effects of global warming.
The study states that “because of their extensive root systems, which commonly exceed depths of two meters, perennial grasses and trees … store a substantial quantity of (carbon) as root biomass.”
Jansson said by engineering and altering these plants, scientists have the ability to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions by storing excess gas in underground plant roots for what could be hundreds of years. But this process is not possible without the engineering of new plants and modification of existing ones.
Jansson added that one way to improve the usage of these crops is to look for plants that can grow in difficult circumstances, which would allow scientists to focus on other tasks.
“If we develop plants that can grow without fresh water supply, or even during a drought, it would be very important for a sustainable system,” he said. “One way to do that is to engineer plants that can be more efficient and produce biomass.”
An example of a more versatile plant is one that can survive on saline water but does not produce much biomass, Jansson said.
According to the study, an ongoing challenge scientists face is plants’ inability to receive sunlight throughout the entire day, reducing their efficiency.
“All plants experience extended periods of non-light-saturated conditions; for example, in the morning and later afternoon,” the study states.
Genetically engineering plants to receive more sunlight would allow them to be converted into larger quantities of biomass. By creating more biomass, the quality of the crop would increase the amount of carbon dioxide that can be stored.
Jansson said he believes that by the year 2050, genetic engineering and this sort of storage system will have absorbed 3 billion tons of excess carbon per year from the atmosphere, reducing the effects of global warming.